Mansfield University of Pennsylvania

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Mansfield University Home Page > Desire2Learn Resources Home Page > Using the Chat Room

About the Chat Tool

The Chat tool allows instantaneous communication. You can hold group meetings, brainstorm ideas, and chat as a group.You can access General Chats only from the appropriate course. The instructor may or may not have this tool available in a course.

Types of chats

  • General (or Course) chats - General chats are public chats are automatically open to all users enrolled in the course.
  • Personal chats - Personal chats are private and visible only to those users that the instructor has added to the chat room participants list.

Accessing the chat tool

To access the Chat tool, click the Chat link on the navigation bar.

Once you click the Chat link from the course home page, you see all the chats created inside that course offering.

If there are other people participating in a certain chat, a link will appear under the Current Participants column.  This link will open a window that will list all of the people currently in the chat room.

Before Entering a Chat Room

All users should click on Chat Settings BEFORE entering the chat room for the first time. In the Chat Settings page, you can change your alias in the chat and its appearance in the Participants pane and chat messages.

  1. Click on the Chat Settings icon at the top of the page.
  2. Change the settings you desire:
    • Alias Format: Select the checkboxes for Bold or Italics.
    • Alias Color: Use drop down box to change the color of your alias in the chat room.
    • Message Order: Choose the order you'd like the messages displayed in the chat room.
    • Only Show: Choose this if you only want the new messages to appear.
    • Sounds: If you want to have sound effects play for an incoming/outgoing person or message, use the drop down boxes.
  3. Click on the Save button when you are done. Some chat settings may require you to refresh your browser before they take effect. 

Entering a Chat

Access the Chat tool by clicking the Chat link on your course Navigation Bar (if present). Select the chat you want to join from your list of chats. If the list of Chat Rooms is really long, you can use the search option to narrow down the list.

In the Chat Room

Type in the text entry field at the bottom. Type a message in the text box at the bottom of the chat room, and press the Enter key, or click the Send button.

Once you are done chatting, use the Exit Chat button to leave.  If you don't use it, you will still be listed as participating in the chat.

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