The Chat Room allows you to post Chat messages and view messages from other users. Each lesson or module of a course has a separate Chat Room.
Messages that are displayed in the Chat Room are from your current Chat session only. Click the View History link at the top of the Chat Room window to view all messages that have been posted.
Administrators, Instructors, and Learners can each submit messages. Administrators and Instructors can also monitor Chat messages and modify or delete postings.
To access:
● See Chat Access and Navigation in this section of Help.
Page Contents:
● The course and lesson you have selected appear at the top of the page. (Note: If the course has more than one lesson, you can choose another lesson from the Lesson pull-down menu.)
● The names of all users who are currently in the Chat Room appear on the right side of the page.
● Type your own Chat messages in the lower portion of the page. Enter the text of your message in the Message text box and click the Send button. You can also attach a document to your message, and change the font color or your message. For details, see To Post a Chat Message below.
● Chat messages that are posted during your Chat session appear in the large area in the center of the page. This area is initially empty when you begin a Chat session. Once the Chat session begins, your own messages as well as message from other users appear.
● In the lower-right portion of the page, a pull-down menu with selections labeled List Top Down and List Bottom Up allows you to display posted Chat messages in order of the date and time posted (List Top Down = newest to oldest; List Bottom Up = oldest to newest).
● The View History link at the top right side of the page allows you to view all messages for the lesson or module (up to and including messages for the current Chat session). See Chat History in this section of Help for more information.
● Click
the Exit link at the top right
side of the page to end your Chat session.
To Post a Chat Message:
● Type your
message in the Message text box at the bottom of the page. Up to 4000
characters (with spaces) are allowed per message. Messages cannot contain
separate paragraphs.
Optional:
o If desired, change the font color of your message. In the Set Font Color pull-down menu, choose a color. (The entire message will be posted with the chosen color.)
o If desired, attach a document to the message. Click the Browse to the right of the Attach File field and select the file name from your computer.
Chat Expressions:
If created by the Instructor, a Chat Expressions pull-down menu appears for the course. Chat Expressions are abbreviations or acronyms that can be posted as a Chat message.
1. Select a Chat Expression from the pull-down menu.
2. Click the Send button or hit the Enter key on your keyboard.
● Note: If you choose a Chat Expression from the pull-down menu, the Chat Expression is posted by itself and not with text in the Message text box.
About Chat Sessions:
● A Chat Session begins when you open the Chat Room window.
● Click Exit at the top right side of the page to end the Chat session.
● If you return to the Chat Room window after you click Exit (which ends your Chat session), the messages that are displayed in the main area of the Chat Room window will be cleared.
● If you click the Close button on your browser instead of clicking Exit in the Chat Room window, you will not end your Chat session. If you later return to the Chat Room window, the messages from your still active Chat session will still appear.
Page Refreshes:
● The Chat Room pop-up window automatically refreshes every five seconds.
● When the Chat Room window refreshes, new messages that have been posted by other users appear in the message display area.
● If you navigate away from the Chat Room window but do not close it (for example, by clicking the View History link), you may notice that the Chat Room window refreshes (pops-up) in front of the window you are currently viewing. Whether the window pops-up in front depends on your browser. To prevent the Chat Room window from appearing in front, minimize the window. A note at the bottom of the Chat Room window serves as a reminder: For best experience, minimize this window when browsing.