Meet me – Pronto!

Meet me – Pronto!

Instant Messaging as a Tool for Student Engagement

Kara Monroe, PhDExecutive Director, Center for Instructional Technology

Learning College Conference, 2009Valparaiso, Indiana

What are we going to learn?

What is Pronto? How do I control my student’s access

to me when I use Pronto? (Or, How do I help my students control my access to them?)

What features does Pronto have to support the teaching and learning process?

What guidelines should I use with my students when using Pronto?

What is Pronto?

Pronto is an education-centric instant messaging application. It automatically integrates your classes and classmates for you.

Pronto includes several advanced features which allow even more functionality than many basic instant messaging packages.

Pronto does require registration and download of a piece of software (shown at the right). This can be done from within any course in Blackboard by going to the Communication link. Pronto registration and download is also available on the Community Tab in Blackboard.

Who uses Pronto?

16,377 registered users, 4402 with profiles 1298 instructors

44,354 Pronto-enabled Courses 17% have 5+ users 3.6% have 10+ users 0.2% have 30+ users

Average number of personal contacts is 4 78% have > 1 personal contact 9.4% have > 10 personal contacts

How do I control who can access me?

Logging in/out If you do/don’t want Pronto to start up

automatically when your computer logs on, you can edit this setting in the Pronto menu under Preferences.▪ Check/uncheck the option to Start Pronto

when my computer starts▪ You can also set whether or not Pronto

automatically signs in you (remembers your password) on this screen


Status Indicators Explain status indicators to your

students when you encourage them to sign up for/use Pronto▪ Green – I should be available to take your

chat. If you don’t receive a response within 10 minutes, drop me an email/message and I’ll respond as soon as I can.▪ Red – I’m not available, but I am logged in.

You can use this as a “FOR EMERGENCIES ONLY” setting if you want.▪ Queued – I’m in office hours or another

group chat


Status Indicators with Messages Set detailed status messages under

Pronto > Preferences▪ Click + to add a new status▪ Choose the category, enter a title and a message that users will receive when they Pronto you (check Auto-Reply)▪ Click Save and OK


Block Users Access from Pronto > Preferences >

Privacy Can use either permanently or

temporarily Also allows you to sign in as invisible

and/or to make you invisible to anyone who is not in one of your classes or a contact

What features support teaching and learning?

Automatic Connection of Classmates Each person that registers for

a Pronto account will be listed under all classes in which they are registered


Group Chats Invite several students to chat at once Select the Actions menu > Invite to

Group Chat from any window. Enter the names of the individuals you want to chat with.

Get the students started and then you can leave or have them chat on their own▪ Invite students from multiple sections to the

same group chat.


Email from Pronto If you have a desktop email client set up

(like Outlook), you can email a user simply by highlighting their name and selecting Actions > Email


Audio Conferencing – Individual and Group Requires a microphone/headset Works best if all participants have high-

speed Internet access (cable or DSL)Individual chat box - click the headphones to start an audio conference

Group chat box - click the headphones to start an audio conference


Video Conferencing – Individual and Group Requires a webcam. If you also want

audio also requires microphone/headset All participants must have high-speed

Internet access (cable or DSL)Individual chat box - click the camera to start an video conference

Group chat box - click the camera to start an video conference


AppSharing – Individual and Group All participants must have high-speed

Internet access (cable or DSL)

Individual chat box - click the AppShare button to start an appshare session

Group chat box - click the AppShare button to start an appshare session


To conduct an AppShare, start the session.

The user on the other end accepts the session

Drag/resize the white box on the screen to show the tool or skill


Give Keyboard and Cursor Control

Give Full Presentation Control


Guidelines for Voice, Video, and AppShare Pronto records chat, but not the content

of AppShare, Voice, and Video. However, be aware these can be recorded

Ask the student if they have a high speed connection, and if they want to take part in a voice, video, AppShare session before starting

Remind them they can still use text chat during the voice, video and/or AppShare session.


Guidelines for Voice, Video, and AppShare As a general rule, don’t give keyboard

and cursor control or Presenter Control to a student.▪ If you initiated a group session and are going

to step out of the session it’s okay to hand off control before you leave

Use the tools to “feed” information to students or have them “feed” information to you – don’t take keyboard and cursor control or Presenter Control from a student if they started the session.

Let’s see AppShare in Action

https://media.ivytech.edu/Gallery/ebvSiyfp6BeKAZWy



How do I conduct Office Hours?

Free form – just tell students you’ll be on – or just be on the system

Announced – schedule specific times when you’ll be available Or a hybrid of the two

How do I conduct Office Hours?

Use the Queued Chat Feature1. Change your Status

to Queuing2. Complete the

Queuing Form▪ Save for future use

How do I conduct Office Hours?They see that I’m currently in Queue mode. Double-clicking this link allows them to join the Queue.

If I’ve asked for a reason for joining, they are presented with this box. They enter their reason and click OK.

They are then placed in my waiting room. Note that it says waiting room at the top. They can chat with other students waiting and I can see that chat – and can even respond to it.

How do I conduct Office Hours?Once I promote the student they are “in my queue” which means they have moved to the “live chat” area.

I can promote multiple students at one time if I wish to do so.

I can also still conduct video, audio, and AppShare while in Queued Chat.

Meet me – Pronto!

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Transcript of Meet me – Pronto!