Forum Teaching with LAMS - experiences: Re: Experiences with chat in computer labs

Back to Teaching with LAMS - experiences
	Search:

	7: Re: Experiences with chat in computer labs By: Debbie Evans	In response to 1	10/17/05 07:59 AM	[ Reply \| Forward ]
The first time I ever used chat, it was with Yahoo...it was cumbersome, clumsy and very difficult to monitor! I then trained in Webservices...to set up a chat, I have to ring in for permission..wait one week, and then I am allotted a time (say 1 hour) and my computers better work then or else!! Now that's cumbersome. The first time I used chat in LAMS, I sat in my staffroom with Ruth Mason (CLI), talked about it for 30 seconds, logged on and created the sequence (which included a chat) in 2 mins, activated it then walked down to the lab and ran it! WOW! It was lively, the students were engaged! They loved it! Yes, there was novelty factor!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If you know wot I mean heheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheh But when I showed them what I could see in Monitor using the Smartboard in the classroom, that helped to bring back a little more focus. Remember these are 10-12 year olds! So they want to have fun too! It's safe, and I keep the monitoring obvious. I find grouping useful, it keeps the size of each chatroom down to a manageable size. I like up to 10 in any chatroom. We plan to have a live chat from home soon. We do our Homework online as a LAMS sequence and I will be putting a chat into next week's sequence! Last time I tried this (with Yahoo) I was chatting to only 1 student (parents were a little fearful) but they love LAMS so I expect a better response this time! We will be chatting about a few things. Going to High School, our Yr 6 fair...should be fun! Deb Posted by Debbie Evans

	8: Re: Re: Experiences with chat in computer labs By: Bronwen Dalziel	In response to 7	10/17/05 10:37 PM	[ Reply \| Forward ]
I've been wondering about what happens to the students that aren't so comfortable with typing. I know that chat can move very fast, especially if there are more than 4-5 people on at the same time. Do you find that some students get left behind? What about if they are using chat shorthand, e.g. lol, rofl etc. (I know my mum uses lol to mean 'lots of love', which adds to the general confusion - although in a happy way!). Is it something to be concerned about, or do the teachers out there find that the differences in skill levels aren't big enough to be a serious disadvantage. Deb, I will be interested to know how your homework chat goes. Are the students organised enough to all be on at the same time? Have fun with it anyway next week. Bronwen Posted by Bronwen Dalziel

	9: Re: Re: Re: Experiences with chat in computer labs By: Angela Voerman	In response to 8	11/27/05 01:30 AM	[ Reply \| Forward ]
Bronwen I was really worried about this: some of my students had never used a computer before this year, and others use them all day at work! I found that the slower ones wrote shorter comments, held back and laughed and talked across the room, then wrote a little more. They were able to dip their toe in and then spend a bit more time on the following activities(q&a...forums...). They did notice the slowness of their typing, but this was balanced by a great sense of achievement. This is yet another one of the joys of the blended approach, and it is also a fun way of developing new literacies... Posted by Angela Voerman

Reply to first post on this page

Back to Teaching with LAMS - experiences