A chat about chat

Journal of the Learning Sciences, 1994

Procedia Computer Science, 2014

The Chat is being used for more than one decade in learning environments as a useful Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL)Tool. However, nowadays some students still usually face accessibility barriers when using Chats and, as a result, they cannot learn in the same way as their classmates. Thus, some of the equality principles of education are not accomplished. This paper shows a study of chat's characteristics and analyzes if commercial Chats with general purposes can be used for learning environments in an accessible way. This study has been carried out from the point of view of the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) guidelines 2.0. The study analyzes fifteen commercial chats (desktop, mobile and web chats) and provides some recommendations in order to improve the accessibility of chats in learning environments.

Handbook of Open, Distance and Digital Education, 2023

The shift from conventional classrooms to the use of various types of distributed education is well documented in the literature. This shift occurred over the past 30 years, if not longer. Open, distance, and digital education (or ODDE) has become ubiquitous in education and training in a variety of settings such as the military, business, higher education, and K12 schools. More recently, ODDE has seen a rise in use in other settings, such as health care organizations. Although both synchronous and asynchronous technologies are available for teaching and learning, it appears that asynchronous tools are predominant in these settings. The use of asynchronous tools is the primary focus of this chapter, with consideration of both the technologies employed and the strategies applied. The purposes are to summarize their appropriate uses in terms of collaborative learning and share any insights to guide future research and practice. The chapter begins with a brief definition of terms used in this chapter along with descriptions of the types and

The literature confirms that learning occurs through discussions. However, the question of 'how' discussions are conducted in an online environment continues to challenge educators. Technology has recapitulated a discussion approach to aid learning by building tools to enable discussions between multiple users. There appears to be a short supply of research which considers whether these current technologies used in the common Learning Management Systems (LMS) and computer conferencing (CC) enhance or limit learning. The cognitive processing required of learners when they engage in the common threaded messages on many of the LMS platforms, is laboured and cognitively demanding. The structure and content appears to be driven by the need for e-management and eadministration, relegating learning to a secondary position. This paper discusses the psychological reading process and how, if used to drive the technology, the reading and processing of content within discussions may be accessed more easily and expanded to include debate and compare and contrast focussed discussions, thus minimizing the cognitive work required for reading posted discussions. The level of interactivity and sociability is also examined. The rationale, development, trial and evaluation of the 'shoutboard' are reported.

2006

In the spring of 2003, I became intrigued by the use of instant messaging (IM) when one of my English as a Second Language (ESL) students urged me to buy a webcam and sign up for Yahoo! Messenger so that we could chat and see each other during her night shift at work where she processed orders online. Encouraged by studies in corporate settings that showed the extensive use of IM for quick task-related consultations among co-workers (Poe 2001), and as a means of manipulating social distance between subordinates and superiors , I spent time learning how to communicate effectively with colleagues and students using the text, video, and audio components of various IM applications. I soon realized the potential pedagogical benefits of the various modalities of IM for ESL and foreign language learning by enabling instructors to interact with and provide immediate feedback to students in the second language.

Encyclopedia of Distance Learning, Second Edition

A number of online tools can now be used in courses for group interactions. This article focuses specifically on asynchronous discussion software that allows one-onone and one-to-many interaction, still predominantly text based and independent of time. It remains a useful communication tool because online classes commonly have learners checking in at different times or from different time zones. This discussion tool offers great opportunity to faculty if thought of as “the classroom space,” and skilled facilitation by faculty in these spaces encourages community and interaction not only among class members, but also with content (Bedard-Voorhees, 2005; Dawley, 2007).

The potential of synchronous chat through the Internet to improve online learning experiences has rarely been discussed by researchers. The case study reported in this paper discovers the needs of synchronous communication and assesses the value of online chats in distance-learning environments. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were used to analyze the value of the chat sessions. Insights into the pros and cons of the chat sessions, the factors affecting the quality of the chat, and the students' attitude toward the chat are discussed. The effects of the chat on the students' motivation to study, the outcome of learning, and the communication among the students and the instructor are discussed. Suggestions for the design of synchronous chat in distance-learning classes are provided.

Proceedings of the 39th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS'06), 2006

The popularity of distributed learning and the continued growth in the number of colleges and universities offering courses delivered entirely via asynchronous learning networks (ALN) are unquestioned. There is little agreement on what constitutes the online environment. The ALN environment is quite immature and many of its components have evolved ad hoc in the form of attempts to mirror the traditional, face-to-face setting. The problems associated with the lack of analysis, planning, and design in developing the infrastructure for an ALN are evident in the tools to support student-to-student communication in collaborative learning activities. This study addresses this rather poorly directed developmental process by answering the following research questions: 1) What criteria are applicable for a communication system to support asynchronous collaborative? 2) How can those criteria be developed and validated? 3) How can those criteria be met in a product? 4) How can that product be evaluated?

2008

2002

A group of graduate students and an instructor at the University of Saskatchewan experimented with the use of synchronous communication (chat) and asynchronous communication (bulletin board) in a theory course in Educational Communications and Technology for an eight-month period. Synchronous communication contributed dramatically to the continuity and convenience of the class, and promoted a strong sense of community. At the same time, it was viewed as less effective than asynchronous communication for dealing with content and issues deeply, and it introduced a number of pedagogical and intellectual limitations. We concluded that synchronous and asynchronous strategies were suitable for different types of learning, and what we experienced was a balancing act between content and community in our group. A combination of synchronous and asynchronous experiences seems to be necessary to promote the kind of engagement and depth required in a graduate seminar. Résumé Un groupe d'étudiants de second cycle universitaire et un chargé de cours de l'université du Saskatchewan ont procédé à une expérience portant sur l'utilisation des communications synchrones (cyberbavardage) et des communications asynchrones (babillard électronique) dans un cours de théorie sur les communications et la technologie pédagogiques sur une période de huit mois. Les communications synchrones ont contribué de façon spectaculaire à la continuité de la classe, à son aspect pratique et ont favorisé un sens fort de la communauté. Cependant, elles ont été jugées moins efficaces que les communications asynchrones en ce qui concerne le traitement approfondi du contenu et des questions, et elles ont introduit un certain nombre de limites tant pédagogiques qu'intellectuelles. Nous en avons conclu que les stratégies synchrone et asynchrone pouvaient convenir à différents types d'apprentissage et que notre expérience avait été une façon de jongler avec le contenu et l'aspect communautaire du groupe. La combinaison d'expériences synchrones et asynchrones semble être nécessaire afin de promouvoir le type d'engagement et d'approfondissement requis au niveau d'un séminaire de second cycle universitaire.