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Tips for Using Chat as an Instructional Tool
10/31/2007
Chat software (text or media-based) provides an excellent tool in supporting academic dialog (exchange), critical thinking, and knowledge building. The immediacy of the technology provides students with a direct connection with the instructor as well as other students. While chat software is usually used for "chatting," and, therefore, it has a relaxed and colloquial protocol, with a little thought and planning, it can also be used well to support instruction.
Many classroom instructors and online instructors use chat software to provide virtual office hours and for easy question and answer sessions. More, however, can be achieved in the instructional process using the tool to create real-time collaboration and discussion that leads to in-depth academic processing of course material.
The main concepts for instructional use are:
- Chat is conversation software and therefore lends itself well to the support of academic exchange;
- Chat is a real-time connection, therefore takes the learning experience outside the classroom but retains the real time connection and, thus, the interactive dynamics of real-time exchange;
- Chat is collaborative and not directive in essence so should be used to promote collaboration and idea sharing;
- Chat is an Internet tool, therefore provides flexibility in scheduling working sessions to suit students' life challenges and provides direct access, which means students can schedule their own sessions online together without the instructor's involvement.
Academic Exchange
The main difference between discussion and dialog (academic exchange) are the rules for engagement and the outcomes. Discussion is mainly about the exchange of information and ideas, while dialog requires the working of ideas towards a knowledge-based learning outcome. The latter also involves a process of critical thinking in order to achieve this outcome and relies on the valuing of each contributed idea as a group idea and not belonging to the individual, as is the case with discussional exchanges. Most learning remains in the discussion stage and rarely reaches knowledge building. Scardamelia and Bareiter (egs. 1996, 1999) have written much about the characteristics and outcomes of knowledge building and the concept of working ideas, as well as how online tools can promote this kind of learning. It is important to realize, however, that simply providing tools to students will not achieve a desired instructional outcome. Reaching a level of instructional success requires effective instructional design and intentional planning on the part of the instructor. It also requires an equal access to content for students, and creating a culture of ideas exchange leading to dialog, not simply conversation.
What is an academic idea? What does it mean to "work an idea?" How can knowledge building be measured as a learning outcome?
It is my sense that the best instructional design for digital learners is multidimensional with diverse inputs and diverse outputs.
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