3. How to use Chat activity

Turn editing On if not and click the "Add an activity or resource" link (or, if not present, the "Add an activity" drop down menu ) and choose Chat. All settings may be expanded by clicking the "Expand all" link top right.

Give a name to your chat room.

In the "Chat sessions" section, you need to set up time and date of your chat. It can be specific date and time, or you could decide to let it be open for your students to come and go as they like. You also choose there if you would like them to be able to re-open the chat and whether the chat should be saved in order to access past sessions later.

For courses involving users across different time zones, it is useful to know that the time you set here will be adjusted to match the time zone of the user viewing it.

As for most activities in Moodle, you can set restrictions and completion criteria, or add specific roles.

When your users click the chat link on the course page they will see two or three options:

  • Click here to enter the chat now - this takes them to the chat using the chosen site default chat method;
  • Use more accessible interface - this gives a simpler chat room without frames and javascript;
  • View past sessions - if this has been enabled and the user is allowed to view past chat sessions, this takes them to a list of past sessions with links to the chat.
In normal view, the screen is in two parts with the participants on the right, the messages on the left and a box at the bottom into which users type their message and press "Send" to make their contribution.
They can add smileys or links, and If they know some HTML code, they can use it to insert images, play sounds or create different coloured and sized text.
They can also beep a single user (by hitting the "beep" link next to their name) or all of them (by typing "beep all", so that you get their attention). Users of the chat activity can send private messages to other ones by clicking on the "Talk" button next to their name.

To view previous chats (if you have permission) click on the 'View past chat sessions' link. Teachers can also access past chat sessions from the Chat administration in the Course administration block

Users can download chats that they have participated in.