HOW
DO YOU FOSTER SUCCESSFUL ONLINE DISCUSSIONS? (some thoughts of
MFO course participants) |
There were several
useful observations on this from last week's activity. From the discussions
we had the following:
- Have a clearly
defined relevant topic that promotes discussion; posting a topic that
is thought provoking, interesting and relevant to what the students
are studying
- Have an organized
structure such as Michael designed for this discussion.A
separate forum in the discussion area assist students in location the
relevant postings.
- Read the other
postings in order to ‘scaffold’ effectively and learn from others. Use
the other postings as blocks to build with.
- Depending on the
topic it could be helpful for participants to have time to research
the subject before posting to the board. This could lead to a more informed
discussion.
- Online discussions
are successful if they provide fresh options to investigate, new direction,
goals, insights and challenges.
- a conversation
to and fro - as would be had in a classroom situation, rather than one
solitary comment
- the facilitator
could send emails to those not participating (eg: have you read Jo's
thoughts on topic X - they are very enlightening) The facilitator's
role would be to guide participants to ensure the discussion stays on
track, without becoming too involved; the trick with this is to be friendly
and encourage but reinforce the notion that it is obligatory to be involved!
- Active participants
can encourage others to add their thoughts by challenging viewpoints
and asking for responses from individuals who they believe may have
useful information relating to the discussion
- put a time limit
on the discussion - say 3 or 4 days so that everyone gets involved quickly
to discourage procrastination
- facilitator should
encourage participants to freely put forward their ideas on the issue/topic
as it provides an excellent forum for feedback by encouraging both more
thought and depth of reply than may otherwise occur in a classroom.
From the chat between
Michael, Keven, and Vicki:
- getting the feeling
of other individuals at the end of keyboard as being important
- getting an image
of the personality of other participants
- some socialisation
is needed first
- need to access
the discussions at least twice a day
- a kind of teamwork
involved
- group responsibility
- a level of expectation
and commitment
- people need to
have an experience with this tool (discusions) where they feel they
have really gained something
- confidence in literacy
skills
Other Resources
The following web
references may be useful:
For an interesting
approach (called the R9 process) see example 2 at the end of the page
at http://users.chariot.net.au/~michaelc/forum_use.htm
For a superb example
of how one can coach students in online courses to develop this appreciation
of the knowledge of classmates as a source for analysis and ‘deeper learning’
I recommend you investigate the late Guy Bensusan’s Escalator approach
at http://users.chariot.net.au/~michaelc/nw2001/esc.htm
My own paper at http://users.chariot.net.au/~michaelc/nz/ICCE_paper.htm
discusses the use of forums in general. (This paper also discusses other
several other issues related to this course.)
<<<
BACK
|