Live online Chat events
An introduction
Every month or so, a special guest is invited to the Virtual-Workspace chatrooms to ‘chat’ to students and answer their questions - live online - about their profession, employment, particular talent or area of interest.
The purpose of the Chat events
- GIVE students access to individuals and specialists who they would not normally come into contact with in their day-to-day lives
- SUPPORT students' programmes of study
- ENABLE students to get an insight into a profession/vocation, which they may want to pursue after their studies
- PROVIDE support for students' specialist hobbies and interests
- ENCOURAGE students to interact and communicate with a variety of individuals from different backgrounds, cultures and interests
How a Chat event works
Before
- A special chatroom is set up for a Chat event before it takes place.
- Details of a Chat event are advertised on the homepage of a student's workspace two weeks in advance.
- The special guest is given a temporary login to the V-W, which gives them access to the Site for the duration of the event only.
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Students who don't have access to the chatroom from a school/home computer, or who are not free at the time of the event, are given the opportunity to submit their questions prior to the event. These pre-event questions are posted in the chatroom during the 'live' chat by V-W staff members, who attribute them to the student who submitted the question, eg:
Charlie V-W says: Question from Jesse: Did you always have dreams to do sport or were you interested in other things as a child?
- Pre-event questions are also sent to the special guest to give them a taster of the types of questions that are likely to be asked and to help them prepare for the event.
During
Students who enter a chatroom for a live Chat event read the discussion taking place and take part by posting their own questions and comments. However, every Chat event is moderated. This means that a member of V-W staff has to approve the contributions of all students before they appear in the chatroom. This helps to prevent inappropriate or repeated questions. It also regulates the pace of a Chat event so that the guest has enough time to type their response to a question before they are given another.
After
- After an event, a transcript of the live Chat is posted in one of the community forums - allowing all members of the V-W community to read the discussion that took place.
- Students who make positive contributions during a live Chat event are awarded points, as part of the overall Virtual-Workspace students incentive scheme.
Although our Chat events are aimed at students, teachers in the V-W are also welcome to take part.
