Instructors in virtual classrooms have to balance presenting their educational material, navigating the features of the platform as well as holding their learners' attention and keeping them engaged. Engageli’s Chat feature allows instructors to communicate directly with learners, and learners to communicate directly with each other. Here are some tips for managing the chat so you can foster communication and engagement and conduct your Engageli session with ease.
1. Learn your chat channels
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Everyone - All participants in the class
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Staff - All instructors and TAs in the class
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TAs - All users logged in as TAs
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Learner name - Specific learner
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Table – If you change the table names, you will see the customized table names in the chat channels menu.
2. Set ground rules
Learners might use the chat to carry on discussions unrelated to the class session. Establish ground rules a the beginning of the session if you have rules you want the learners to follow such as keeping side conversations to a minimum or not overusing emojis, acronyms, shorthand, etc.
3. Post Questions in the Q&A
If you have questions for your learners that you don’t want to get lost in the chat, you can post them in the Q&A. The Q&A is threaded, persists, and asynchronous learners watching the class recording in the Playback Room will also be able to participate. Like the chat, the Q&A can be downloaded.
4. Designate a Moderator
If you have teaching assistants (TA), you can assign them or another learner to be the moderator and keep track of the chat. The chat moderator can answer questions without distracting from a presentation or lecture and also alert you to pertinent questions or comments via a private chat to you or the “Staff” channel.
5. Download the chat for later review
During a session, learners may actively participate in the chat, posting questions, responding, and helping each other. If you are not able to keep up with the chat in real-time, you can download the chat at the end of class for later review so that you can address any outstanding questions or issues in the next class.
Need more help? Contact Support.