The third way to communicate online is by a chat. Click on an icon like this to join a chat.

An online chat can be compared to talking in a classroom. except here, talking is replaced by typing. Just as in a classroom it works best if people talk one at a time. And as in a classroom, you can only talk to people in the same room, in this case the place is called an online chat room. When you click on the chat icon to begin a chat session, a window similar to the one below will appear. The names of the rooms may vary as they are set by your teacher.

In the TAFE Virtual Campus Chat there are a number of chat rooms available. The first four chat rooms are for chats that are recorded, so that people who miss a chat session can catch up on what has been said during the session. These are usually used for specific chat topics. There is also a general chat room for anybody in the unit/module to use. This general chat room is not logged. You can enter different chat rooms so that not everyone is necessarily talking together at the same time. Some may want to talk in Room 1 about an assignment while others might be in Room 2 talking about some specific course content. To use the Chat function you must make sure that your browser is set up to enable Java. (Java is the computer language that is used to create the chat facilities.) Instructions on how to do this are in the Getting Connected section at the start of this guide.

Chatting Online

When you use the online chat facilities it is very much like taking part in a discussion during a face to face class session. Like all discussions with other people we usually have a set of manners and courtesies that we follow. In online chatting we call these manners Netiquette. "Netiquette" is an abbreviation for Internet Etiquette.

When you enter a chat room your name will appear in the right hand frame. You can see who else is in the chat room by the list of names in this frame.

To start chatting click in the empty message box at the bottom of the window so that your cursor is in the box. Once you have typed in a message that you want to send press the enter key on your keyboard. Your message will then appear in the Conversation Text Box. If your message does not appear then you probably did not place your cursor in the message box.

If you would like to say something to just one person - we call this a private message - click on the person's name in the right hand panel to highlight their name and then type your message. Only that person will see what you have written. To send messages to the rest of the group again you need to click on the person's name to whom you sent the private message again so that it is no longer highlighted.

Note that the teacher, Martin, sent the telephone number as a private message that only Beckie would see by clicking on her name before typing it.

Netiquette

Netiquette or (Internet Etiquette) is simply the manners that we use when we are communicating online with other people. In a similar way that we establish a certain rapport with our colleagues and class mates at work or in an educational setting we need to establish a standard of communicating online that fosters an harmonious and friendly tone. Netiquette establishes an online standard of politeness that ensures our online communications are a positive experience for us and those with whom we communicate.

The following are some common netiquette practices:

• Do NOT write all in capital letters. It is considered SHOUTING.
• Read your message carefully before sending it. Avoid spelling and capitalization errors, uncommon words, incomplete thoughts, etc.
• Be brief and concise.
• Be polite and keep in mind the diversity in culture and background of the receiver of the message.
• Avoid the use of slang that only a few persons may understand.
• Avoid jokes that not everyone can understand.
• You can use characters or "emotions" to express emotions that others will understand, such as :-) for happiness or :-( for sadness.
• Use color and font style to give emphasis to words.
• If you reply to a question or comment on a message, include the relevant portions of the original text.
• In the Bulletin Board you can use the "Reply with Quote" option in Message.
• Use the subject line to identify the topic of your message.
• If you refer to information or quote text directly from a book, magazine or URL, cite the references and sources.
• If you serve as a discussion moderator or facilitator, be gentle, write clear questions, and give feedback promptly to the participants.
• Be patient and read before you type.
• You do not want to be commenting on a topic the discussion has moved away from.
• Avoid being critical of messages that others have posted on the Bulletin Board or in a chat.