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Now your professor wants you to attend a live chat session with some of your classmates – it’s a chance to show your stuff, but how can you be effective? Should you be formal or informal? What about introductions?
Despite its great convenience, online courses can at times make you feel like it’s your first day of Kindergarten all over again. So we’ve gathered some simple tips to help you become more effective in online chats.

Know the rules of netiquette. Netiquette is simply respecting other people in the chat room. That means waiting until others are done “speaking,” using appropriate language, and sticking to the subject. (Hint: Your school should have chat room rules posted. If you don’t know them, ask your professor before the chat room starts.)

Check out the chat speed beforehand. If you are on dial-up, it may make the chat room exceedingly slow, which means when you type in a long sentence, the others in the chat room will be waiting to see what you are typing. If you are on dial-up and can’t get high speed access, then let the chat room participants know, type only a few words before sending them, or write your responses in an editor and copy and paste them into the chat. (Hint: You can have two windows open at once, just use the minimize button at the top of your Internet browser.)

Review the materials. Think of your chat as a classroom debate. If your professor told you there would be a debate about a topic in class and you had to participate, you would make sure you knew the topic, right? Well, in a chat room, you need to do the same thing – know your topic. (Hint: Most professors will post the topic for the chat room beforehand in the assignments.)

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