BASIC
INSTRUCTIONS FOR USING VIRTUAL SEMINAR CHAT ROOM
Logging in:
 | Log
in under “your user name” using your own name
| You
do NOT need to enter a password, just press “OK” after you log
in and you will enter the chat room.
| You
can be sure you are correctly entered by looking at the white
“online users” box at
the top right of the page. |
| |
Special Feature of Chat room:
| This
chat room is moderated which means that the “Instructor”
receives each message and decides whether or not to let it enter the
“public” chat area. Do
not be concerned if you write something and it does not appear
immediately. The idea
behind a moderated chat room is that the instructor can facilitate
the discussion by keeping it on topic.
S/he does this by permitting certain messages to enter, to
enter before others, etc. |
How to Send a Message:
| Type
your question or comment that you wish to submit to the chat room in
the pink area labeled “Text to send” and press return (enter).
| You
will not see it instantly appear in the public chat room
area. It will appear
only if the Instructor desires it to appear.
| Follow
the moderated chat in the public chat area which is the yellow area
labeled “Public message area”.
| Messages
and comments from the Instructor to everyone appear at the top of
the screen in the blue area labeled “Messages from Instructor”.
| Messages
from the Instructor to an individual (for example explaining why
your message was not sent to the public message area) appear under
“Student’s responses and Instructor’s responses” in the aqua
colored area. |
| | | |
How to Exit:
| To
exit, just click on the “x” button at the very top of your page
on the right hand side. Or
you can go to “file” on the top left and select
“disconnect.” |
What to Do if Chat Room Fails:
| The
chat room is a computer program that may fail in the middle of the
chat!
| If
you do not see any new activity from the Instructor or students in
the public message area, you may suspect that the chat room program
is down. You will not
know that the program is down by the page disappearing.
The only thing that will happen is that the activity pauses.
| The
Instructor is the only one who can restart the program.
It is likely that when the program is restarted, you will
have to log in again. The
process of recognizing that the program is down and fixing the
problem may take a few minutes (5-10) so be patient.
You can leave the chat room and return again by logging in.
This will also show you if it is functioning properly.
| The
designer of the chat room tool would very much enjoy receiving any
comments you have about its ease/difficulty of use, properties and
any suggestions for improvement.
If you have any input, please send it through the TIRES
coordinator at FIU: Judith
Rasoletti at rasolett@fiu.edu |
| | |
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