SJ. Posted February 9, 2017 Share Posted February 9, 2017 If your child takes an online class with a chat function does your child find it distracting? What is the instructor's policy on limiting off topic chatting? My DS is taking a class and the chatting is never ending. There are constant Bing sounds each time someone posts that is over the instructor's voice during the lecture. It is a constant distraction. Unfortunately, you cannot turn off the chat notification sound nor hide the chat. I have no problem with the chats that are answering a question from the instructor. The problem is that many chats are off topic. To me, it is like having a group of people in a classroom talking over the teacher the entire class. Is this the norm? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie of KY Posted February 9, 2017 Share Posted February 9, 2017 I would not like off topic chatting over the instructor. Most of our online classes have not had chatting, but the ones that have are on topic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted February 9, 2017 Share Posted February 9, 2017 (edited) Every on-line class we have had that included chat, the chat posts were controlled by the instructor. There were clearly established rules for chatting and when "free" chat would be allowed. If there were minor violations, there would be a warning, possibly two. If someone continued they would be "isolated" so only the teacher could see the chat responses of that student. Major violations (curse words, insulting teacher or student, inappropriate topics) the student was immediately and permanently isolated and a warning sent to the parent that if they persisted they would be dropped from the class. And none have ever had a pinging sound during chat. That would be VERY distracting. DD has one class where the teacher disables chat periodically when she is not expecting responses but is going through detailed/intense material. In the past there was a class where a particular student would NOT stop chatting, and sometimes sent jokes that were hurtful to other students. He was encouraging the other kids to just chat away or argue back with him. It was distracting and irritating for DD and for me. He got a warning. After the second warning he wasn't posting anymore. Turns out the teacher had "isolated" him so he could still chat responses to the teacher but no one else could see his responses. It was wonderful. The rest of the kids stopped chatting over misc. things, too, (guess it helped them realize they were "chatting" too much about other things) and stayed more focused on the class. It sounds like either the teacher in your situation is not making much effort to control the class, or is not aware of what is happening, or is using a system that does not give him/her the ability to control the situation. Maybe your student/you could email the teacher and explain the issue. It might help them to realize there really is a problem and it needs to be addressed. And perhaps they can shut off the chat chime somehow... Edited February 9, 2017 by OneStepAtATime 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RootAnn Posted February 9, 2017 Share Posted February 9, 2017 I find that this varies by instructor. The ones that set a strict policy and enforce it get more done. You will sometimes get a new kid that is used to more lax chat who causes trouble. I would stay away from the lax teachers because my kids absolutely find it distracting. Some classes have no chat once class starts, but most allow some. We have never had a chime sound. I have seen some teachers temporarily disable chat (or clear it) when the kids get off topic. We have used Memoria Press, WHA, WTMA, Excelsior, and Homeschool Connections. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SJ. Posted February 9, 2017 Author Share Posted February 9, 2017 We have used Memoria Press, WHA, WTMA, Excelsior, and Homeschool Connections. Interesting. The class I am referring to is through one of the providers you have listed. Either the chat alert sound can be turned off but I haven't figured out how to do so or it is an update to the system. When I tried to turn the sound off it muted the instructor as well as the chat notification sound. Even if the notification sound is turned off the scrolling of text is still a distraction. I will contact the instructor but I do not believe much will change. We entered the class at the 2nd semester of a year long class. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RootAnn Posted February 9, 2017 Share Posted February 9, 2017 PM if you want with what provider (or just what interface - like Blackboard or Adobe Connect). My oldest is pretty good about some of the interfaces & she can mess around to see if there is a notification chime setting you can turn off. One of eldest's current teachers this year runs a loose ship with lots of chat (and she gets off-topic a lot herself). She's had to turn chat off & clear it a few times, but it never works long-term because she just doesn't have discipline in the classroom. If I can, it is something I usually try to find out prior to a class since some kids get really distracted even by a little chat. (I think rampant chat distracts everyone!) Everyone in the class is distracted, they don't get as much done as they could, and that's one reason (among many) why my reviews of that class in the future won't be as glowing as the ones I read before I signed my kid up for it. DD's Spanish teacher turns public chat off as soon as he starts class. The students can still send messages to the instructor, but that is it. DD#2's Wilson Hill teacher runs a tight ship, but has definitely had to "have a talk" with a couple of the kids in the class - repeatedly. I think there are probably ADHD or maturity issues (or both) at play in those situations. One kid had really shaped up until a new kid joined the class at the start of this semester. The new kid definitely is used to chatting about whatever he wants all the time, and it started the previous kid wandering off-topic again. The instructor sets the tone! I'd absolutely contact the instructor. You might find that the teacher either doesn't care or can't do anything about it (teacher might not have the respect of the class to be able to pull this off without shutting chat down completely). But, you can always try. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madteaparty Posted February 9, 2017 Share Posted February 9, 2017 (edited) It's not distracting per se, but it gets annoying in some supposedly secular classes where the kids (not teacher) take their Christian proselytizing duties a bit too seriously. DS came out of one the other day and said "I think...they think they're helping me? It's weird". I responded that they are merely trying to save his soul from hell, no big. On the other hand, I support free speech and DS needs to learn to hold his own so I haven't complained yet. Edited February 9, 2017 by madteaparty 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CAtoVA Posted February 15, 2017 Share Posted February 15, 2017 My son is easily distracted by the chat boxes so at times I have had to tell him "no more chatting." He has had online classes with a few different teachers and schools and I have found that it varies whether a teacher allows off topic chatting or not. All of his teachers will warn a student if his or her chatting is getting distracting. One teacher he has will disable the chat if she thinks it's getting too distracting. If it was up to me I would turn the public chat off during instruction time except for when students are expected to interact with each other. There are discussion and message boards available for most of my son's providers so I really don't see a purpose in public chat after instruction has started (unless, as I mentioned earlier, students are expected to interact with each other for learning purposes). We have never experienced "sounds" from the chat boxes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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