How to Use Chatroom Technology in the Classroom
Chatrooms have gained popularity among younger users of the Internet but, in spite of the bad press that "chatting" can get at times, there are a number of possibilities for you, as a teacher, to help your students learn more than they could through "normal" methods of instruction.
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Instructions
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Determine what you want your students to know. Plan a concrete objective that will allow you--and your students--to know when they've met the learning goal. For example, if you want your students to speak Spanish, you could set a goal that they find out what the words for "car," "bedroom," and "to have a hangover" are in a variety of Spanish-speaking countries.
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Direct the students to various chatroom web sites, and have them choose a "room" that corresponds with what you want them to learn. Tell students to spend a certain amount of time at the task, so as to get the maximum benefit.
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Prepare a form or template of some kind which can guide the students toward the learning objectives. For example, if your goal is for the students to practice Spanish in general, the template could have sections for new words, new phrases, new cultural awareness and perhaps a section on the feelings experienced by the students as they made contact with these other people.
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Be ready for the inevitable negative reactions to your trying to incorporate such technology into the learning process. Some think that chatrooms are only for superficial conversation, but the reality is that you have a whole world of people out there with whom to talk, and there are many in cyberspace who prefer to have real and substantial conversations.
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Make the goals of each interaction clear, so that the students can easily stay on task, and so you can easily justify such an activity to anyone who may question the integrity of the exercise.
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Be creative in your approach. If you're studying the customs and cultures of another country, what better resource than to go to Yahoo! chatrooms where students can go into a room that deals precisely with the culture of the country in question.
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Devise a clear method for evaluating the learning that has taken place. Keep in mind that not every student will get the same assembly-line integration of concepts with such an approach; rather, each student could get something different, from the experience. Evaluate the students as a group and bring together their learning in a synthesis that helps them all learn something new.
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Tips & Warnings
Invariably and unavoidably, chatrooms are used a lot for "hooking up," in all senses of the term. Be open with the students in telling them to work their way past the mundane, superficial or vulgar remarks that they'll see in chatrooms, and, with patience, to find those who will provide them with the information they want to know.
