Learning through chat: University of the Arts London Case Studies in Online Learning in Art, Design and Communication

Synchronous computer conferencing, or “chat,” is an effective and versatile tool of online learning, providing users with opportunities for real-time communication. Chat can be used for a variety of educational purposes, including academic seminars, student tutorials, recruitment interviews, and student presentations. In this chapter, we argue that through practice, in a socially open learning environment, chat is a focused learning activity, providing a forum where identities emerge and activity is at its greatest. We demonstrate the diverse and growing uses of chat through reference to examples from the chat archives of online distance courses at the University of the Arts London. We contextualise chat within a social learning framework and provide an analytical framework drawn from conversational analysis in order to examine the issues associated with chat in practice and how practice is improved through specific methodologies, new protocols, and inventive application.