Currently looking at alternatives to the WebCT chat tool since it decided to stop working and the usual time for these things to get fixed can be measured in months rather than weeks :-(
I'm looking at chat options that must be very simple to use and have password protection.
Currently looking at the following:
Chatz - http://www.chatzy.com/
This service can be used free with an inoffensive advertisement at the top.
I like this service because you can password protect the room, good for private classroom chats.
The interface could be a little clearer, perhaps too many options but a worthwhile temporary replacement for WebCT chat. It has no whiteboard tool though, does anyone use that function?
If you pay for the service, just $9 you get 500KB of chat, no adverts, save your rooms and your chats are logged. Since this is a text only service 500KB is actually a lot of chat.
Tinychat - http://tinychat.com/
A friend on twitter suggested this service, it's really simple and works well.
Interface is as simple as you can get and you can get your posts to the chat room onto twitter I believe, not tried this feature yet. My only problem with this tool is that there is no password protection so you could run a class and have strangers turn up but there is no directory of chat rooms so I guess somebody would have to work out the URL to get into your room. Once you all leave the room it is deleted, there is no archiving of the chat.
drop.io - http://drop.io/
Another twitter recommendation, this tool is very good although not as simple as Tinychat.
This tool enables password protection and full collaboration tools such as sharing images, edit documents together etc. I'm not interested in any of the advanced collaboration tools but the basic chat seems fine.
You can watch a short demo video of the system here - http://drop.io/file/streaming
Do you have any recommendations of web based chat services?
I'm looking at chat options that must be very simple to use and have password protection.
Currently looking at the following:
Chatz - http://www.chatzy.com/
This service can be used free with an inoffensive advertisement at the top.
I like this service because you can password protect the room, good for private classroom chats.
The interface could be a little clearer, perhaps too many options but a worthwhile temporary replacement for WebCT chat. It has no whiteboard tool though, does anyone use that function?
If you pay for the service, just $9 you get 500KB of chat, no adverts, save your rooms and your chats are logged. Since this is a text only service 500KB is actually a lot of chat.
Tinychat - http://tinychat.com/
A friend on twitter suggested this service, it's really simple and works well.
Interface is as simple as you can get and you can get your posts to the chat room onto twitter I believe, not tried this feature yet. My only problem with this tool is that there is no password protection so you could run a class and have strangers turn up but there is no directory of chat rooms so I guess somebody would have to work out the URL to get into your room. Once you all leave the room it is deleted, there is no archiving of the chat.
drop.io - http://drop.io/
Another twitter recommendation, this tool is very good although not as simple as Tinychat.
This tool enables password protection and full collaboration tools such as sharing images, edit documents together etc. I'm not interested in any of the advanced collaboration tools but the basic chat seems fine.
You can watch a short demo video of the system here - http://drop.io/file/streaming
Do you have any recommendations of web based chat services?
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