Encouraging Communication Online
Teaching online is great but getting the students to participate in online discussions is difficult. Students usually do the bare minimum for their grade requirements. Students will not read their emails even when alerted to do so. There must be a way to convey the community of online learning.
Wenda,
Current events are a great way of helping!
Shelly Crider
Thanks and current event certainly help with this.
Wenda
Wenda,
Make sure you have a lively topic. Current events tend to help with this.
Shelly Crider
I agree Shelly, I try to get the students involved by asking question and keeping the conversation engaging and interesting by providing current examples. The hardest part is getting student to the live chats.
Harper,
This helps with professionalism as well when you incoporate social media!
Shelly Crider
I have dealt with this problem also, and have been baffled at times by the very tech-savvy students who still seem to avoid reading and responding to emails or online messages. I have found that to some degree enthusiastic and casual praise for contributions encourages students to contribute more. Sometimes a little reward goes a long way.
Another way that we have begun trying is to include social media in the classroom (both on and offline). Incorporate Twitter into an assignment, for example. Our online learning environment also allows students to link their social media to their course, so they are alerted via Facebook, Twitter, etc. when they get a grade or an assignment.
Agnes,
I tend to learn something new each discussion question by doing just this task!!
Shelly Crider
Agnes,
We see this in the work force as well.....those who really work and those who sit back at watch.
Shelly Crider
Asking questions is a valuable technique to engage students' participation level, be in online or on ground. I learned it takes some time for students to 'warm up' to their professors and peers.
Some are eager to share week 1, and others need a bit more time.
It seems there is always a group of students who will be engaged in the discussion/course and go beyond basic requirements, and there are few who would not want to participate or complete assignments, no matter how many times you reach out.
While I agree we need to adjust our teaching style, there are course objectives to meet and topics to cover.
Certainly, trying to reach out and maintaining a high level of enthusiasm usually benefits the discussion/overall class.
Tonia,
I love creative feedback or even challenging questions to really make them think. I have thrown comments into my discussion that I would never do, but I want to see how a student might react if something like that happen to them.....
Shelly Crider
Afrodite,
Thank you for pointing out that students change each term. We as instructors need to see what type of students we have each and every term and teach accordingly!
Shelly Crider
I completely agree Shelly. In my discussion threads most of m students post all 3 require posts on the same day, so that leads me to be creative with my feedback to them. I like to engage my student to the point of having them think outside the box, but still stay on the relative topic.
Shelly,
I agree that the instructor involvement in the students online learning experience can have a direct affect on participation and communication. Because of the lack of the face to face time it is even more important that we provide open lines of communication to the students. The discussion boards and chat rooms need to be interactive. Of course the class dynamics change with each student base but we as instructors can do things to encourage participation. Post announcements as well as email. Ask open ended questions in chat and in the discussion board. These are just some ideas.
Shannon,
Love this post! Open ended questions do indeed open a whole new portal!
Shelly Crider
Hi Shelly,
I completely agree that instructors can drive discussions further by using open ended questions. I think the student receives an enriched experience when they are encouraged to further examine their initial thoughts.
The additional question can also trigger other students to think beyond the initial post. I think this type of interaction is vitally important for a thriving and meaningful discussion.
Thanks! Shannon
Sean,
I so agree. We as instructors get so comfortable emailing, we do tend to forget that students usually have a phone and could use a voice.
Shelly Crider
Sometimes the "sinking" student needs to hear a voice. A phone call to say that someone is actually on the other end of the screen can help. Online students are online for multitude of reasons.
Sometimes a student just won't do the work for one reason or another. Others may simple be having a difficult time adjusting to being an online student or just need to know that someone cares.
Deanna,
If you have discussion questions, be sure to involve yourself by adding open ended questions to those who are a little more quiet.
Shelly Crider
