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Concrete
Steps for Online Discussion
by Karen M.Peters
Outline of different types of activities that will
motivate students to utilise discussion forum’s potential
Strategy
1
From the very beginning, don’t separate the topics in the
online discussion from the face-to-face class meetings. Do base
class quizzes on information posted from students—students
need to see the results of the technology used for their regular
class activities or they might not take the online assignments seriously.
It is important to make it compulsory for students to log in at
least twice a week (at the beginning of the week to enter their
comment on a topic, and later in the week to read and respond to
feedback on that topic). This will also help to create incentives
for students to achieve regular and legitimate participation.
Strategy
2
Don’t expect students to know how to collaborate. As the instructor,
you’ll need to monitor the discussions, and make allowance
on group conflicts and other group dynamics. Besides, with so many
different perspectives offered, students might suffer information
overload, and may get confused between facts and opinions.
Strategy
3
Provide students with comprehensive handouts and training on the
use of online discussion forum. However, it is their responsibility
to familiarise themselves with the technology. It is crucial that
students become independent of the lecturer as the technical expert
of the system, or they’ll never learn to collaborate with
their classmates. Don’t make hasty allowances for students’
perceived incompetence in dealing with computers. They’ll
learn once they find out it’s important for the course, e.g.
it will contribute to a student’s grades, and other future
discipline.
Strategy
4
Structure activities so that all students can log in within a time
frame, e.g. within the same few days. Students who come online later
on may face an already established community and feel left out.
If you wish students to work in an ‘unstructured’ environment,
stage your exercises throughout the semester so as to move gradually
from ‘structured’ to ‘unstructured’.
Strategy
5
In the various online activities you create for your students, do
use metaphors to crate a sense of architecture. For instance, you
can call a conference for socialising “The Water Hole”,
a conference for exchange literature references “The Library”,
etc.
Strategy
6
Suggest to your students the importance of a good learning environment.
If they are trying to participate the online discussions from work,
they are competing with other daily priorities. A busy dorm or lab
can also interfere with the benefits of an online forum. Encourage
students to find time when there are less competition with other
tasks or conversations.
Strategy
7
Social support activities are very important for a class. They help
provide the emotional ‘bridge’ that motivates students
to learn together and to learn from each other (as compared to learning
only from the teacher). Do create areas where groups of students
(teams) can work on a question or problem before it is post in the
classroom. However, don’t expect students to be able to meet
in small groups outside of class time, especially with larger classes.
Strategy
8
Cautioned students that each conference environment has its own
standards of behaviour. A formal conference requires attention to
correct language usage and students will be graded accordingly,
whereas in their own private groups, this is not an issue.
Strategy
9
Enter a controversial topic related to the course content each week
and request that students discussed it in the forum. Have students
defend the issues posted throughout the semester. This can be done
by saving or extracting the issues in the whole semester and assigning
teams to defend either a pro or con position. As the semester progresses,
request students synthesise the materials that was posted throughout
the semester.
Strategy
10
Don’t squeeze everything into a single discussion—this
becomes very confusing. Move discussions or create new topics as
they become necessary.
Note:
This article is republish with the permission of the Karen M. Peters.
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