chat function?

[Connie Weber]

Hello All,
My kids really want to get a chat function going on our ning network. They were thinking of linking it to moodle, but that seems like the long way around to me. Do you have any advice about what we could try?

[Skip Zilla]

Connie,
This may not be what you're looking for, but try copying and pasting this Google Chat widget code (then replace the * in the first and last lines with a <) into a box on the main page of your classroom Ning network which will allow you to edit it to embed HTML code. If it's not right for you, just edit the box again and delete the code. Hope this helps.
Skip
*script
src="http://gmodules.com/ig/ifr?url=http://www.google.com/ig/modules/googletalk.xml&
synd=open&w=320&h=400&title=Google+Talk&border=%23ffffff%7C3px%2C1px+solid+%23999999&output=js" type="text/javascript"">
*/script>

[Jo Rhys-Jones]

ooh - not heard of that - I'll try that too if you don't mind - thank you!

[Sharon Betts]

Connie,
How about meebo? I like the way it works.
Sharon

[Skip Zilla]

Here's the Meebo code (Again replace the * with <):

*embed src="http://widget.meebo.com/mm.swf?nrrakJGmEc" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="320" height="400" />

[Connie Weber]

My kids tried these today, and the sites require signing up with an IM account. Any other ideas, or ideas of how to get around that? Maybe ning would explore having a chat function?

[Skip Zilla]

If you create the Meebo account on your classroom Ning's main page, when the students access the page, they should be able to use the chat function in multiuser mode. I'm not sure whether or not they can chat with one another 24/7 when you are not logged in the chatroom yourself. Maybe someone else can jump in here with an answer. Otherwise each student could set up her/his chatroom on their own profile page--each getting their own IM account.

[Skip Zilla]

Part doux:
If you're going to use Meebo, I suggest you set up an IM account and start from scratch designing your chatbox. There's an easy and enjoyable process for configuring the look and feel of the chatbox at Meebo's website; when you complete the process, you'll be supplied with the code necessary to copy and paste into an HTML-capable box on your own site, similar to what I commented on above.

[Susan]

Hi Everyone! It's possible that I missed something when setting up my meebo chat room, but if not then then I wouldn't advise for school kids. The problem being that the meebo chatroom is accessible to anyone and can be found through a search engine. I had the unfortunate experience of chatting with a very "unfriendly" visitor a couple of weeks ago, who also added a less than suitable video to the chatroom, which took some time to delete.

[Steve Hargadon]

Great answers, and the ones I would have given. I've also taken to www.pibb.com for group chat, but it doesn't have an embed code that I can find...

[Connie Weber]

Thank you, Skip, Sharon, and Steve--I'll get the kids onto this today! (Isn't it great to have a resourceful community to draw from? This is great modeling for the students. They see first hand the power of sharing tools and knowledge.)
I'll let you know how it works!

[Steve Hargadon]

Has anyone tried Gabbly? Looks like it might do what you want: http://home.gabbly.com/index.jsp. Looks like it includes ads, though.

[Maggie Verster]

I have tried Gabbly with my Maths lit teachers for virtual "teaparties" I don't know if it is beause we have such limited bandwidth here in south africa, but people kept on "getting lost" and had to refresh their browsers. Sometimes there were teachers in the chat but you could not see them! And yes you can go on a date as well....;-)

What I did like about Gabbly is that you can "chat on any web page" without having to register or download or install or embed anything- all you have to do to get a chat window on a webpage, is to add "gabbly.com/ in front of any webpage. Great for discussing web resources. You can also subscibe to the feed which was great for me to keep track of what my teachers "talk about" for my research

BUT I would NOT use it with young students!!!! As it is so open and easy and anonymous- anybody can come in!!!! Plus they might go off on a date........