I have to agree that students should be required to participate in online discussions. Not only does it gives them the opportunity to express their own thoughts and opinions but it allows them to see things from various viewpoints.
For those of you who are currently teaching an online course, roughly on average, how many asynchronous discussions do you require your students to participate in throughout a term/semester?
George:
I find your conclusion about students' reluctance to writing their own thoughts to be unique, and worthy of exploring. These are some questions for you to consider.
Question 1
Most of the students for whom we prepare courses are at the graduate and post graduate levels. we have not encountered many instances in which students participation in written assignments os low. Was your observation made on high school students?
Question 2
Your suggestion about encouraging students to do more writing in everyday communications is a good one. What measures do you think we can take to promote this behavior?
I agree, it has always been my contention that even though email is our most popular use of the internet. No one wants to do any writing of their own thoughts. They prefer to copy some one else or just forward messages from some one else. Most students are not comfortable with their writing and speaking abilities .On line courses need to address the problem and encourage students to do more writing in their everyday communications. Not only for class work. It's essential that they learn to write down their thoughts in discussion form.
Anthony,
You bring up an excellent point about the advantage of asynchronous chat... it allows students to give more thought their answers before posting a responses to questions.
Can you think of any other benefits of asynchronous chat?
I am interested in your thoughts :) Jane
Nieva,
I would agree with you that your students should be required to have online participation, its tantamount to participating in class. I'm not sure how well this new requirement will go over for an existing class, however, once its included in your syllabus there really can be no argument.
In order to ease those less comfortable writers into the discussion environment, I would suggest asynchronous discussion questions that may apply to everyones project topic so that all students can relate to the discussion and the student in question can have some more time to respond to questions posed to them.
Lewis,
Your insights into the hearts and minds of online learners are valuble. Many learning specialists have stated that a teacher cannot motivate a student because motivation comes from within. I wholeheartedly disagree!
Teachers, even online teachers, can motivate students through, to quote you, "encouragement and rapport."
Thanks for your input :)
Jane
What did the Lion want from the Wizard of Oz?
Courage!
We can be the Wizard in our class for the quieter student. Adding a prefix and a suffix, we have the ability to add a dimension to them. Encouragement!
When we are assessing students we must identify the quieter, reserved student, as soon as possible. It is important to build a relationship with them.
I try to "take them to the side" - via email and learn something about them and their knowledge of the material. We should find something in their introductory pages to find a common ground to develop an interest.
Finding their hot button is essential. It will help them to realize that their intellectual potential should not be strangled with a lack of communication. Once I have built a rapport, it is possible to "call on them" in the forum - as in class.
For example: I could write, "Class, Phil related a situation at work where the supervisor's lack of understanding nonverbal communication insults fellow employees. Phil please tell us what gestures or scenarios have bothered the employees."
When others realize that Phil has the floor, they will exhibit respect for the moment. It is my hope that he will be interviewed and become a leader for a few minutes.
Accordingly, I must thank him for his insight and contribution to the discussion. Others will follow suit. Now, they have someone to refer back to throughout the course. His self-esteem as a "source" will grow, exponentially.
The rest of the class will observe that I am willing to take time to get to know them, individually. This willingness will serve to replace certain aspects that are lost without my physical presence.
Take care
I agree. Participation is a must. It shows the students dedication to the course and therfore the dedication they may show to a future employer.
It is also important to realize that when these students are in the work force that not responding to asked questions is not an option. I agreee with making a discussion forum part of the format, but they also need to be held to the limitations and responsiblities and deadlines an on campus course or job would have.
Jane, you are right on target,
the medical field depends on good communication skills and they are developed both asynchronous and synchronous, even though on-line learning is self motivated on-line dicussion is the fore runner of developing the communication skills needed in the real world.
I agree 100% that participation should be graded. I have a minimum requirement... students must respond to discussion questions posted by me and, in addition, they are required to give their feedback to at least two of their classmates' postings. This tends to get some really great discussions going.
Any good course design should include methods of allowing discussions (synchronous or asynchronous) as well as techniques for motivating students to engage in those discussions.
Good post, Sylvia!
Jane
Students that are training to become medical support staff professionals must be proficient in written, verbal, and online communication. Participation should be graded and a requirement of any online course. If there is no response to your questions then send another reply reminding the learner that the answer is a grade requirement. You might find that you will be receiving many replies. How do you feel about this suggestion?
Nieva, I have found this to be true in on ground classes, if a student has difficulty with the language they are reluctant to participate in class discussions for fear of being laughed at or appearing to be ignorant. When these students are given praise and notice that the instructor and there fellow classmates are encouraging they become very articulate. I believe that the posted discussions will help with this problem, they are usually better at keyboarding than speaking. Then again you do have those who are just non participants but make great employee team members. All we can do is encourage our students and give them all the possible tools we can for their success. The Chats, if encouraged, will be a way for those who are shy to be contributors of discussions and if they are aware of the points that are given their contributions may improve even more.
There is a concern that I have, when correcting online exam, how do you know if the person who is taking the exam is the student enrolled and not someone else?
Nieva,
I absolutely agree with you. In every online course I teach, participation is at least 10% of the grade. To earn participation points, students must respond to at least two of their classmates' postings.
The results of this are interesting. There are a few who will do the two posting and another handful who are willing to give up 10% of their grade. For the most part; however, students exceed the minimum requirement. It seems that, once they get started, they enjoy the banter with their classmates.
Discussion forums, in my opinion, should be part of every online course. What other features would you like to see?
:)
Jane
