The Chat Room is a real-time, text-only chat tool within a site. The Chat Room tool can be used for synchronous, unstructured conversations among site participants who are logged into the site at the same time. Only participants enrolled in the same site can chat using the Chat Room.

The Chat Room tool supports multiple rooms, and a default room can be set by the site owner. For example, instructors may choose to create an "Online Office Hours" chat room for student questions and answers. Chat rooms for student groups can also be set up as a space to collaborate among group members across distances.

The Chat Room tool alerts participants that other participants who have entered the same chat room. This way, users know who is available to talk.

Site owners can specify how many chat messages are archived and for how long, or they can allow participants to configure their own archive settings.

The Chat Room tool does not provide a way to chat privately. By default, all messages are visible to all participants.