Late to discussion, but: On Wed, Jan 17, 2018 at 11:54 AM, Joanna Klukowska <joann...@cs.nyu.edu> wrote:
> Thanks to everybody who responded on the list and off the list. > I am going to introduce students to IRC and get them to practice. > We'll see if they choose to use it on their own or if they default to the > more familiar tools for the communication. > One thing I've found... idiosyncratic... about IRC is the logging. If there's some way for you to ensure that the channel they're using is auto-logged to (for example) an internal web page (there are probably bots that do that?) it would help make their experience with IRC less odd, I think. (To put it more bluntly: one of the things that I don't like about IRC is that if your connection drops you lose the conversation and there's no way to read backwards and see what you missed. Having a web archive would fix that, I think. Developers who I work with solve for this in a number of ways, with the most common seeming to be using some sort of "keep alive" daemon [maybe wrong word] to ensure that their connection is "always on") > I was looking for some active channels to show that "real" developers > actually use it and I found that gcc channel is very active (well, at least > today): irc.oftc.net/#gcc If you are on mozilla's network, all of the Rust channels are friendly: https://search.mibbit.com/channels/Mozilla HTH, Gina > > > Joanna > > ---------------------------------------------------- > Joanna Klukowska, PhD > Clinical Assistant Professor > Department of Computer Science > Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, NYU > Warren Weaver Hall, Room 423 > joann...@cs.nyu.edu > http://cs.nyu.edu/~joannakl/ > Office hours (Spring 2018): > Monday 9:30am-11:00am, Thursday 1:30pm-3:00pm > ---------------------------------------------------- > > > On 01/10/2018 08:19 PM, Heidi Ellis wrote: > >> Hi, >> >> Susan has done a great job summarizing IRC pros and cons. I thought I'd >> share how I use it. >> >> I have an IRC channel open continually for students and hold IRC office >> hours two hours per week. This allows me to hold office hours in the >> evening when more students are around. It also allows me to be more >> available to students while I'm not in my office. >> >> I use one of a couple of in-class exercises to get students used to IRC. >> In one, I show my IRC channel on the projector and ask all students to log >> in. I will then ask students a question on IRC in which they are vested >> (what should the late policy be for the course) and require that all >> conversation be on IRC. I have also done this at the end of class and >> dismiss the class via IRC. Those students who aren't paying attention will >> sit there looking at you while the others get up and leave. Causes them to >> pay attention to IRC. >> >> Another exercise I use is to have students pair up and find out five >> facts about the other person without talking. Pretty much any problem >> solving that doesn't require creating graphs or pictures is good fodder for >> an IRC activity. You can then repeat the exercise by combining pairs. >> >> When I'm involved in an HFOSS course and am lucky enough to have class at >> the same time that the HFOSS community had their weekly meeting. I >> displayed the IRC channel on the projector while we participated in the >> meeting as well. This allowed us to ask questions of the community while we >> were in class. At the beginning, I explained (verbally) what was happening >> on the IRC channel but after the first couple of meetings, we were silent. >> We didn't do this every class, but on an as-needed basis. >> >> In either case, the activity forces them to get used to IRC. I have >> observed that a few students figure out that you're available on IRC and >> will ask more questions than I expect if they had to approach me in my >> office. They also ask more questions in the evenings. I have also observed >> that some of the quietest students in the class will be more "vocal" on IRC. >> >> Just my 2 cents. >> Heidi >> >> >> On 01/09/2018 02:21 PM, Susan E. Sons wrote: >> >>> I use IRC regularly for teaching/mentoring sessions and it can work well >>> for many audiences. I'm not a professor, but some of my mentees are in >>> that age cohort. >>> >>> IRC Pros: >>> >>> Extremely handicap accessible. Smooth, predictable behavior with screen >>> readers for the blind, and a variety of client options for users with >>> visual or auditory impairments or other concerns. >>> >>> Extremely accessible in the general sense: IRC is free to use, with low >>> bandwidth requirements, and there are clients available for free for >>> nearly every operating system on the planet. The system requirements >>> are a fraction of those for browser-based chat services. >>> >>> Logging provides built-in, searchable reference material. >>> >>> No distracting animated gif inserts and the like as in browser-based >>> chat services. IRC is strictly text based, and clients can even strip >>> obnoxious colors and blink tags from text (many do by default). >>> >>> Once students adapt to IRC-based discussions, they tend to be more >>> attentive because it's easier to multitask or task switch without >>> missing important context, compared to e.g. Slack or an audio or video >>> stream. >>> >>> >>> IRC Cons: >>> >>> One must install software to use IRC (there are web gateways, but they >>> are prone to abuse and have connectivity issues). >>> >>> One must learn a few text commands to use IRC effectively. It's not >>> that hard, but there are some younger non-technical folks who balk at >>> not being able to click everything. >>> >>> IRC doesn't provide screen share or video capabilities, which can be >>> helpful for some types of teaching. (I've used Crowdcast with great >>> success here. It's proprietary, but very open from an interface >>> perspective and the support is great.) >>> >>> My two cents. :) >>> >>> Susan >>> >>> On 01/09/2018 01:25 PM, Joanna Klukowska wrote: >>> >>>> I will be teaching an Open Source Software Development class this >>>> spring. I usually use Piazza for class discussions and most >>>> communications. But for an open source course, I feel like IRC might be >>>> more appropriate. Except I am not sure how a bunch of college kids will >>>> handle IRC. >>>> >>>> Does anybody have any experience in using IRC for a course as a single >>>> communication tool with students? >>>> >>>> Any feedback would be very appreciated! >>>> >>>> Best, >>>> Joanna >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> tos mailing list >>> tos@teachingopensource.org >>> http://lists.teachingopensource.org/mailman/listinfo/tos >>> TOS website:http://teachingopensource.org/ >>> >> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> tos mailing list >> tos@teachingopensource.org >> http://lists.teachingopensource.org/mailman/listinfo/tos >> TOS website: http://teachingopensource.org/ >> >> _______________________________________________ > tos mailing list > tos@teachingopensource.org > http://lists.teachingopensource.org/mailman/listinfo/tos > TOS website: http://teachingopensource.org/ > -- *Gina Likins * University Outreach, Open Source and Standards Red Hat 100 E. Davie St.; Raleigh, NC 27601 glik...@redhat.com (919)890-8322 <(919)%20890-8322> or internally 48322
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