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Chat

Why use the Chat Tool?

The Chat tool allows participants to have a real-time (Synchronous), text-based discussion in onQ. Using the Chat tool, you can hold two types of chats: General (course) chats or Personal chats.

You can use the Chat tool to:

  • Offer online office hours
  • Brainstorm ideas collaboratively
  • Hold real-time discussions
  • Request students post pre-class and in-class questions
  • Take a quick vote among your students
  • Appoint someone to lead a particular project
  • Conduct a quick private meeting with a student

Create and Use Chat

General Chats

General (course) chats, can only be created by instructors, are used for conversations that are relevant to all members of the course. The general chat is visible to everyone enrolled in the course it is created. No invitation is necessary to participate in a general chat.

Personal Chats

Personal chats can be created by instructors or students. They are used for group conversations or working with peers in real-time. The creator of the chat can add any members; members not added to the chat cannot join the chat room. Chat members can be classmates or other onQ users.

Note: General chats exist within a specific course and are only accessible from the course in which they are created.

All users in the course have access to the general chat. You can create multiple chats for the same course, such as "Midterm Review" and "Final Review."

  • On the navbar, select Chat under the Communications tab.
  • On the Chat List page, click New Chat.
  • Enter a Title.
  • Click General Chat.
  • Enter a Description of the Chat.
  • Click Create.

Note: You can create personal chats to talk with students or peers in onQ. You can create personal chats from any course, and you can access them within any other course you have access to. Personal chat rooms can only be accessed by users who have been added to the personal chat's Participant List. When users are added, the chat room displays under Personal Chats in their list of chats. Depending on your permissions, you may not be able to create personal chats.

  1. On the navbar, select Chat under the Communications tab.
  2. On the Chat List page, click New Chat.
  3. Enter a Title.
  4. Click Personal Chat.
  5. Enter a Description of the Chat.
  6. Click Create.

Add Users

  1. On the navbar, select Chat under the Communications tab.
  2. On the Chat List page, click View Members from the context menu of the personal chat you want to add users to.
  3. Do one of the following:
  4. Click Add Members.
    • You can add users from different course offerings that you are enrolled in by clicking Select Different Course.
    • If you want to add a personal contact, click Add Personal Contact.
    • Select the check box beside the name of users you want to add.
       
  5. Click Add.
  6. When you are finished, click Done.

Remove Users

  1. On the navbar, select Chat under the Communications tab.
  2. On the Chat List page, click View Members from the context menu of the personal chat you want to remove users from.
  3. On the Chat Members page, select the check box beside the users you want to remove.
  4. Click Delete.
  5. Click Done.

Add a chat message

Type a message in the text box at the bottom of the chat room, and press Enter on your keyboard or click Send.

Refresh your chat window

If you think new messages are not appearing on your screen fast enough, click Refresh at the top of the chat. This option appears when you select New Messages in Settings.

See who else is chatting

The Participants pane displays a list of users currently signed in to a chat room.