It is possible to use [talky.io](https://talky.io) to set up voice chat with individual students / student groups. Students can share their computer screen and/or use a webcam to show their solutions, while discussing it with the TA as normal. It is essentially the closest to a normal physical TA-student interaction.
It is possible to use https://talky.io to set up voice chat with individual students / student groups. Students can share their computer screen and/or use a webcam to show their solutions, while discussing it with the TA as normal. It is essentially the closest to a normal physical TA->student interaction.
It is not too difficult to set up, but does require students to have at least a working microphone.
It is not too difficult to set up but does require students to have at least a working microphone.
### How does it work for students?
### How does it work for students?
The student goes to https://talky.io, and clicks the button "start a chat". They then make a request in the Queue with the link to their chat in the comment field.
The student goes to https://talky.io and clicks the button `start a chat` (leaving the `choose a room name` field blank). They then make a request in the [Queue](Queue) with the link to their chat in the comment field.
### How does it work for TAs?
### How does it work for TAs?
The TA gets a request from Queue as normal, clicks on the link, which makes them join the call with the student. They can then talk to/help the student as they normally would.
The TA gets a request from Queue as normal, clicks on the link, which makes them join the call with the student. They can then talk to/help the student as they normally would.
### How to set it up for a teacher?
It is recommended to make some rules about the amount of time a TA waits for the student on the call when they enter the chat room and about the presence of other students on the call.
Ensure Queue is set up as normal. Post an announcement on Brightspace with the explanatory message, like the example below.
### How should teachers set it up?
### Message to students - individual questions
Ensure [Queue](Queue) is set up as normal. Post an announcement on Brightspace with an explanatory message (see the example below).
This course gives you the option to have video/voice chats with TAs during the lab session. For this we use talky.io, a website which should work on any platform and modern browser and does not require an account. Talky.io does not store any information after the call has ended. Talky uses so called rooms which people with the link can join. However, we will use the rooms for single-person communication.
### Message to students: Individual Questions
This course gives you the option to have video/voice chats with TAs during the lab session. For this we use talky.io, a website which should work on any platform and modern browser and does not require an account. Talky.io does not store any information after the call has ended. Talky uses so called "rooms" which people with the link can join. However, we will use the rooms for single-person communication.
The process will work as follows:
The process will work as follows:
* Go to https://talky.io , **leave the room name empty** and click on start a chat. You will get a random, unique room name, which ensures there is an unique room per student.
* Go to https://talky.io , **leave the room name empty** and click on `start a chat`. You will get a random, unique room name, which ensures there is a unique room per student.
* Ensure that at least your microphone and speaker are working. You can click 'share screen' to share your screen or an application. You do not need to have a camera, but if you feel it is helpful, you can also share your camera.
* Ensure that at least your microphone and speaker are working. You can click `share screen` to share your screen or an application. You do not need to have a camera but if you feel it is helpful, you can also share your camera.
* Copy the URL of the talky.io page to clipboard.
* Copy the URL of the talky.io page.
*Ask a question on Queue as normally, **adding your talky.io link in the comment field**.
*Enqueue in the Queue as you normally would, **adding your talky.io link to the comment field**.
* A TA will join the conversation when they are ready to handle your request. **You will hear a sound whenever the TA joins, so ensure your volume is at an appropriate level**.
* A TA will join the conversation when they are ready to handle your request. **You will hear a sound whenever the TA joins, so ensure your volume is at an appropriate level**.
Requests will be handled as follows:
Requests will be handled as follows:
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@@ -31,7 +36,8 @@ Requests will be handled as follows:
...
@@ -31,7 +36,8 @@ Requests will be handled as follows:
It is allowed to share the link to your room with at most one other student and have them listen in to the conversation if they have the same problem. However, there may only be one person with an active mic in a room. Only one person is allowed to ask questions per request.
It is allowed to share the link to your room with at most one other student and have them listen in to the conversation if they have the same problem. However, there may only be one person with an active mic in a room. Only one person is allowed to ask questions per request.
Issues:
Issues:
* If your microphone is not working on windows, check the settings for allowing microphone usage: 
* If your microphone is not working on Windows, check the settings for allowing microphone usage: 
### Experiences
## Experiences
For the Concepts of Programming Languages course we have used this approach and found that it works well. There were a few minor problems with microphones/screen sharing that did not work, but these were all resolved quite quickly or were resolved by rejoining the room.
For the Concepts of Programming Languages course we have used this approach and found that it works well. There were a few minor problems with microphones/screen sharing that did not work, but these were all resolved quite quickly or were resolved by rejoining the room.
