Online chat
Online chat is any direct text-, audio- or video-based, one-on-one or one-to-many chat, using tools such as instant messengers, Internet Relay Chat, talkers and possibly MUDs or other online games. Online chat includes web-based applications that allow communication – often directly addressed, but anonymous between users in a multi-user environment. Web conferencing is a more specific online service, that is often sold as a service, hosted on a web server controlled by the vendor. Online chat may address point-to-point communications as well as multicast communications from one sender to multiple receivers and voice and video chat, or may be a feature of a web conferencing service.
Online chat in a narrower sense is any kind of communication over the Internet that offers a real-time transmission of text messages from sender to receiver. Chat messages are generally short in order to enable other participants to respond quickly. Thereby, a feeling similar to a spoken conversation is created, which distinguishes chatting from other text-based online communication forms such as Internet forums and email. The expression online chat comes from the word chat which means "informal conversation".
Synchronous conferencing or synchronous computer-mediated communication is any form of computer-mediated communication that occurs in real-time; that is, there is no significant delay between sending and receiving messages. SCMC includes real-time forms of text, audio, and video communication. SCMC has been highly studied in the context of e-learning.
History
The first chat system was used by the U.S. government in 1971. It was developed by Murray Turoff, a young PhD graduate from Berkeley, and its first use was during President Nixon's wage-price freeze under Project Delphi. The system was called EMISARI and would allow 10 regional offices to link together in a real-time online chat known as the party line. It was in use up until 1986.The first public online chat system was called Talkomatic, created by Doug Brown and David R. Woolley in 1973 on the PLATO System at the University of Illinois. It offered several channels, each of which could accommodate up to five people, with messages appearing on all users' screens character-by-character as they were typed. Talkomatic was popular among PLATO users into the mid-1980s. In 2014, Brown and Woolley released a web-based version of Talkomatic.
The first online system to use the actual command "chat" was created for The Source in 1979 by Tom Walker and Fritz Thane of Dialcom, Inc.
The first dedicated online chat service that was widely available to the public was the CompuServe CB Simulator in 1980, created by CompuServe executive Alexander "Sandy" Trevor in Columbus, Ohio. Chat rooms gained mainstream popularity with AOL.
Other chat platforms flourished during the 1980s. Among the earliest with a GUI was BroadCast, a Macintosh extension that became especially popular on university campuses in America and Germany.Jarkko Oikarinen created Internet Relay Chat in 1988. Many peer-to-peer clients have chat rooms, e.g., Ares Galaxy, eMule, Filetopia, Retroshare, Vuze, WASTE, WinMX, etc. Many popular social media platforms are now used as chat rooms, such as WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, Discord, Snapchat, Instagram, TikTok, and many more.
The first transatlantic Internet chat took place between Oulu, Finland and Corvallis, Oregon in February 1989.
The first dedicated online chat service that was widely available to the public was the CompuServe CB Simulator in 1980, created by CompuServe executive Alexander "Sandy" Trevor in Columbus, Ohio. Ancestors include network chat software such as UNIX "talk" used in the 1970s.
Chat is implemented in multiple video-conferencing tools. A study of chat use during work-related videoconferencing found that chat during meetings allows participants to communicate without interrupting the meeting, plan action around common resources, and enables greater inclusion. The study also found that chat can cause distractions and information asymmetries between participants.
Types
According to the type of media used, synchronous conferencing can be divided into- audio conferencing: only audio is used
- video conferencing: Both audio and video and pictures are used.
- point-to-point: Only two computers are connected end to end.
- multi-point: Two or more than two computers are connected.
Methods
- Chat : Multiple participants can be logged into the conference and can interactively share resources and ideas. There is also an option to save the chat and archive it for later review.
- Voice : This is a conference call between the instructor and the participating students where they can speak through a built-in microphone or a headset.
- Video conferencing: This may or may not require the participants to have their webcams running. Usually, a video conference involves a live feed from a classroom or elsewhere or content.
- Web conferencing: This includes Webinar as well. Unlike in video conferencing, participants of web conferencing can access a wider variety of media elements. Web conferences are comparatively more interactive and usually incorporate chat sessions as well.
- Virtual worlds: In this setup, students can meet in the virtual world and speak with each other through headsets and VoIP. This can make learning more productive and engaging when the students can navigate the worlds and operate in their avatar.
Chat room
Generally speaking, the ability to converse with multiple people in the same conversation differentiates chat rooms from instant messaging programs, which are more typically designed for one-to-one communication. The users in a particular chat room are generally connected via a shared internet or other similar connection, and chat rooms exist catering for a wide range of subjects. New technology has enabled the use of file sharing and webcams.
Graphical multi-user environments
Visual chat rooms add graphics to the chat experience, in either 2D or 3D. These are characterized by using a graphic representation of the user, an avatar virtual elements such as games and educational material most often developed by individual site owners, who in general are simply more advanced users of the systems. The most popular environments, such as The Palace, also allow users to create/build their own spaces. Some of the most popular 3D chat experiences are IMVU and Second Life. Many such implementations generate profit by selling virtual goods to users at a high margin.Some online chat rooms also incorporate audio and video communications, so that users may actually see and hear each other.
Games are also often played in chat rooms. These are typically implemented by an external process such as an IRC bot joining the room to conduct the game. Trivia question & answer games are most prevalent. A historic example is Hunt the Wumpus. Chatroom-based implementations of the party game Mafia also exist. A similar, but more complex style of text-based gaming are MUDs, in which players interact within a textual, interactive fiction–like environment.
Conferencing
Both synchronous and asynchronous conferencing are online conferencing where the participants can interact while being physically located at different places in the world. Asynchronous conferencing allows the students to access the learning material at their convenience while synchronous conferencing requires that all participants including the instructor and the students be online at the time of the conference.While synchronous conferencing enables real-time interaction of the participants, asynchronous conferencing allows participants to post messages and others can respond to it at any convenient time. Sometimes a combination of both synchronous and asynchronous conferencing is used. Both methods give a permanent record of the conference.
In education
Synchronous conferencing in education helps in the delivery of content through digital media. Since this is real-time teaching, it also brings the benefits of face-to-face teaching in distance learning. Multiple higher education institutions offer well-designed quality e-learning opportunities.Some of the advantages of synchronous conferencing in education are:
- Helps the students to connect with not only their teachers and peers but also with recognized experts in the field regardless of the geographical distance and different time zones.
- Provides opportunities for both the teachers and the students to expand their knowledge outside the classroom.
- Helps students who are home-bound or limited mobility to connect with their classrooms and participate in learning.
- Helps the faculties to conduct classes when they are not able to come to classes due to an emergency.
- Supports real-time collaboration, interaction, and immediate feedback
- Encourage students to learn together and in turn, develop cultural understanding
- Personalized learning experience for the students
- Real-time discussion opportunities for students promoting student engagement
- Active interaction can lead to an associated community of like-minded students
- Saves travel expenses and time