ePortfolios+and+Chat+rooms+(Barb)

Online education is a niche tool that allows many people to study that would not have had the means or inclination to do so (Farrell, 2001) as students can write in their own time (Bauer, 2002). Non native speakers may feel more confident because they have time to process their thoughts before posting them (Khan 1999, in Bauer, 2002). In this way chat rooms and discussion forums can be used in an eportfolio to engage students in collaboration (Bauer, 2002), develop a sense of community (Smith, 2005) and this may encourage students to remain in an online course. The amount of interaction and the quality of that interaction with the aim of high volume, meaningful communication at a deeper level of understanding (Conrad & Donaldson, 2004), can be easily assessed by the course leader. Chat rooms allow a large number of people to conduct a conversation synchronously. They allow for brainstorming, team planning and question and answer discussions in real time (Bauer, 2002). Slow typists are at a disadvantage, and there is no chance of enticing a reticent class member into the discussion if they have not logged on (Bauer, 2002). The lack of social and physical cues in an online environment may allow some students the freedom to make a comment without feelings of embarrassment (Smith, 2005), however sometimes contributions from non reticent personalities can become inappropriate and aggressive (Berge, 1995). The asynchronous nature of a discussion forum means students can “take their time to reflect, craft contributions thoughtfully and pay strict attention to grammar and spelling” (Khan, 1999 in Bauer, 2002). Again this may support non native speakers to undertake study, and may also encourage reticent personalities into the discussion. Contributors can include attachments to support their argument, or show their work so far (Bauer, 2002). The use of discussion analysis tools may allow a course provider to monitor threads and evaluate patterns that responses elicit (Jeong, 2003 in Conrad and Donaldson, 2004). Certainly the time of week a discussion starter is posted has quite an impact on the quality of critical discourse that follows (Jeong & Frazier, 2008). For chat rooms and forums to be meaningfully included in eportfolios, teachers, lecturers or course providers need to ensure that there is a balance of synchronous and asynchronous opportunities for discussion. This will allow less reticent students the chance to contribute meaningfully and will allow the discussion facilitator to monitor the discussion over time. Teachers also need to ensure the marking of these two discussion tools follows a pre-published set of guidelines that allows for recognition of clarity of ideas and expression, consistency of behaviour and thinking, and openness to learning (Conrad & Donaldson, 2004). These authors also suggest that a peer evaluation be included in the assessment process to allow all students the opportunity to comment on the contributions of others in the collaborative activity. Chat rooms and forums require several assumptions to be met in the first place. Firstly, that the students can put their thoughts into writing (for example young children may not have this skill) and that all contributors are equally capable of maintaining internet connections (EDIT 521 group chat, personal communication).
 * __Chat rooms, Forums and ePortfolios __**

 References: ** Farrell **, B. (2001). ** Developing a successful online class: What works to keep the ** ** students motivated and interested? **// Ed at a distance // 15 (// 5 //), Retrieved from [], viewed 19 March , 2011 ** Berge **, Z. L. (1995). ** Facilitating computer conferencing: Recommendations from the field.In ** // Educational Technology //. 35(// 1 //) 22-30, viewed 19 March 2011, Retrieved from http://www.emoderators.com/moderators/teach_online.html ** Smith, ** T. C. (2005). ** Fifty-one competencies for on-line instruction **. In // The journal of educator’s online //, 2(// 2 //), viewed 19 March 2011 , Retrieved from []  ** Jeong, A & Frazer, S. (2008), ** ** How day of posting affects level of critical discourse in asynchronous discussions and computer-supported collaborative argumentation ** In // British Journal of Educational Technology, // [|//Volume 39////, Issue 5,//] // pages 875–887, September 2008 //, Retrieved from  []  viewed 19 march 2011 Bauer, John F. (2002), // Assessing student work from chatrooms and bulletin boards //, In //Assessment strategies for the online class: from theory to practice//, Rebecca S. Anderson, John F. Bauer, Bruce W. Speck (Eds) San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2002 pp 31-36 Conrad, R.M., & Donaldson, J.A. (2004), // Measuring online engaged learning //, In //Engaging the online learner: activities and resources for creative instruction//, Rita Marie Conrad, J Ana Donaldson, San Francisco, Clif: Jossey-Bass, 2004, Chapter 3. Pp 24-34.