Preparation is the key to a successful chat session. Here are some things that you and your students can do to help make your chats easier and more productive.
Before the first chat, consider giving your students a short handout with some basic etiquette instructions. You can even include these in the chat announcement. The following are some sample instructions:
If you can, wait for the moderator or speaker to ask for your questions.
If you want to ask a question and it cannot wait, send a "?" and wait for the moderator or speaker to acknowledge you. This is the online equivalent of raising your hand.
If you have a comment or observation, send a "!" and wait for the moderator or speaker to acknowledge you. When the speaker reaches a good place to pause, he/she will invite you to comment.
If you need multiple lines, use "..." at the end of a line to indicate there's more to come. Without the "..." at the end of a line, other participants assume that...