LECTURES v. CHATS
I have been teaching for about seven years now and I have found it to be a great challenge to adapt my traditional teaching methods to online methods.
Of particular note is the live chat session. The main concern I have here is that the communication is more or less one way in the sense that my voice is the only one heard. With the software that I use, students are able to type a message to me or otherwise participate in side conversations via IM-style messages.
To be honest, I really don't like this since it removes the primary form of communication: speech. Many students get frustrated with this, especially the slower typists.
So the question now becomes: how can we adapt our methods to more strongly encourage not only participation, but learner satisfaction knowing that they can actually contribute to the conversation?
One method I have found to be particularly helpful is to email my students the PowerPoint file BEFORE the live session. This gives them the opportunity to preview information and otherwise prepare questions for any particular point during the live session. I have asked my students about this and it seems as though they greatly enjoy this method.
Jacob,
The more details of the subject and what is expected, the more participants you will have.
Shelly Crider
I also present an agenda to my students several days before the live chat and ask them for feedback. What would they like to change, add, delete, modify so I can adjust the chat to subjects of interest within the learning objectives.
Margaret,
I like this.....an assignment to bring to the discussion!
Shelly Crider
What about assigning individual tasks to the chat participants so they have something to bring to the party? This will get them more interested in participating and allow for more interaction. That way the learning is multifaceted, not just sending-focused from the educator.
Terri:
I also provide PPTs to students before the chats. Not only do students have the opportunity preview and jot down questions, but they also may develop a greater interest in the subject matter and choose to share some information about their own real-world experiences in the subject matter. The PPTs should also, in my opinion, have generous white space to facilitate additional comments and sub-content.
Suzanne
I also find it distracting when there is side chatter going on during an on-line presentation.
I have been posting the powerpoint in the drop box are of my classroom so the students can review them prior to or during the unit. I have had a few share that they print them off and write their notes directly on them, it helps them recall facts and discussion.
This is a good way to get everyone involved. As an instructor you need to make sure that you read all the posts to keep negative topics out of the discussion.
I personally prefer a forum, non-chat type of discussion, where the conversation does not have to happen in real time. This way, even the slowest typist does not feel left behind. Everybody had read the lecture material, and everyone can now contribute to a discussion, asking the instructor and each other, if they have questions or comments.
Jesse, offering the students the Powerpoints in advance of the chat are helpful for sure.
I purposely pause in my chats to allow the students to ask questions about the material that I am covering. I may not be able to cover all of the slides but they do learn from those that are covered since I allow time for questions along the way.
The hardest part of chats is getting folks to attend them since they are optional at my school.
This is a great idea. It will also help guide you in the chat and give it more structure.
I try to hold an evening chat and a morning chat. This does a good job covering time zones.
Thank you. It has worked very well.
Lab time is a great idea!
Chats can be difficult for many reasons. You tend to have a couple of students dominate the discussion if you are not careful. I try to encourage everyone to share their thoughts. I also plan an engaging activity so that students have to share their ideas and responses as we complete the activity. I use this opportunity as "lab time". My courses are programming courses and teaching programming online is very challenging. Lab time in an onground environment is key to a student's progress with the material. These chats are crucial because they serve as lab time in an online programming course.
I have struggled with this same issue. I have made powerpoints to specifically cover those topics I want understood.
For the next course I write, I will use captivate to see if there is more retention.
I have not had a successful chat as of yet because everytime I offer one, nobody takes me up on it.
I am looking forward to chat. I love the interaction between students. I think it might be a challenge until I get into the grove but then it will be fun.
