Chat sessions support a variety of instructional activities. Chats support examination of timely issues, brainstorming, and reviews and clarification of course concepts. Chats also can be used to facilitate dialogue with guest experts.

Chats are effective when used in combination with other instructional activities, such as follow-up discussions to reading assignments or presentations. Chats also complement asynchronous discussion group activities.

Chat sessions are useful for supporting group work. Small groups of students (e.g., two to five participants) can use chat sessions to brainstorm requirements for a project or to establish member roles and responsibilities. Some instructors use chats to hold virtual office hours or conduct one-on-one advising sessions.

The instructor serves two major roles in chat sessions: moderator and facilitator. 

As moderator, the instructor handles tasks and responsibilities including:

Distributing an agenda for the chat session in advance.

Opening the session and greeting participants.

Presenting a question to start the discussion.

Monitoring the discussion.

Redirecting the dialogue to keep the conversation on topic.

Communicating privately with late arrivals, briefly recapping the discussion for participants.

Prompting "lurkers" or inactive participants to contribute to the conversation.

Moving the discussion forward to the next subtopic.

Summarizing the discussion.

Concluding the chat session.

Posting or distributing copies of the chat transcripts.

In the facilitator role, the instructor:

Develops the discussion topic and the relevant, open-ended discussion questions.

Allows participants to answer their own questions.

Reinforces learner comprehension and critical thinking.

Interjects and provides clarification when misunderstandings occur.

Asks for application of course concepts.

Now we'll look at the ground rules for chat sessions.

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