Douglas,
It is my pleasure to dialogue like this with other educators. Thank you for you genuine participation.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
David,
Thanks for the supporting comment. It is this type of interaction that really makes the training sink in.
Doug
Douglas,
Yes, it is one of the best in an arsenal of many.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
The Socratic Method is a great tool to use for this.
Crystal,
This is a very good general description of how a facilitator can aptly use the discussion forum.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
My role for discussions will be as facilitator as well as to provide feedback and instruction if needed. I will encourage student participation by making it a part of their grade but also explaining the importance of the discussion and the learning opportunity it provides. By participating in a facilitators role, I would occasionally intercede in discussions if they seem to be going off course as well as to ask additional questions or post information to keep students pointed in the correct directions.
Joel,
You are right on target. The instructor is the one who fosters the creation of the learning community within the class. Very good. Thanks.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
The instructor has to be an active participant in discussion. Thus you have to directly engage students who just complete the minimum requirements or who are not participating at all. If you are an active participant the you can infuse the discussion with new direction or "life". If the idea is to create a learning community then the instructor is an active member of the group with overall goals in mind.
Sandi,
Your redirection to additional online resources is an excellent "extra" step. This would provide the student with substance and direction for the response to your question. Otherwise, he/she may feel inadequate to respond and avoid the desired engagement. Very nicely done.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
Jennifer,
Your requirement would definitely provide benefit to the students. Do you have any particular means for enforcement? More specifically, I am curious about the "rewards and consequences" involved with this approach. Thank you for your contributions and insights.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
I would make it a requirement that student reply and engage in the discussion posts to continue the communication within the class setting. This would be a requirement students would benefit from.
Follow up questions often encourage students to re-engage. Especially thoughtful ones that speak directly to their contributions. Re-directing them to additional online resources, or links, with information that expands their contibutions, also works.
Sandy ,
This sounds like an excellent strategy. Explaining and modeling the expected behaviors are very powerful in any instructional situation. I especially like your "Early Thoughts" idea to open their minds to the ideas which they are about to study. It makes sense that this strategy promotes participation and more expanded discussions. Thank you for your insights.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
It is a challenge to engage students to go beyond the requirements.
I play an active role in the discussions by actively participating in the discussion throughout the unit. I encourage substantive participation by explaining and modeling what a substantive post should be.
I typically begin the discussion by posting an "Early Thoughts" or "Points to Ponder" forum. This allows students the opportunity to share their thoughts and experience about the topic without having to reasearch the topic before posting. I have found that this strategy promotes participation and students are more open to exanding their discussions.
Matt,
Good question. I don't believe a formal analysis has been accomplished. However, my experience with this class is that a mixture of corrective, affirming and inquiring responses seem to engage the maximum types of learners. Frequent interaction (24 – 48 hours) is sometimes difficult to maintain, but I like it best, also.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
I think many faculty members are similar there too :-) Have you done any analysis and see how many people taking this course come back and engage more than the single 1st post??
Our requirements are to post a single response to our discussions, while yet a sister university requires instructors to post multiple times though out the grading/assignment period.
I think I like the more frequent interaction approach better. The frequent posts by the faculty should provoke more discussions and not simply state answers, keep it interactive.
-- Matt
Nichole,
Very good points. These Socratic approach (questioning for deeper understanding) is a very useful tool in both traditional and virtual classrooms. It is particularly useful to enhance student engagement and the online discussions. Thank you for your insights.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
Joe,
This is excellent for assisting students on both ends of the spectrum. It is a very good system that may help many improve their students'engagement in the discussions. Thank you for sharing your insights.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
Arijana ,
This energetic approach "to see what gets them going," is likely to reveal some useful information. Have you gathered any data that may be of value to the participants of this forum? Thank you for your contributions.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
What will be your role in discussions? How will you encourage substantive participation? What strategies will you use to extend learner’s thinking and keep the discussion focused on the intended outcomes?
As online facilitator, my role in the discussion forum will be to expand the students intial thoughts by adding valuable information or asking them to explain a specific part in more detail. I feel that you can easily make the student think more critically my simply engaging them to explain their response more in depth and ask their actual opinion on the subject.
I know that every school has their own requirements but I do feel that it helps to require students to participate in discussion forums so many days in a certain period. Otherwise, I have seen where students will go in and post all of their responses at once rather than actually taking part in the discussions. This is why I feel it is important to grade participation also.
As previously mentioned, I will continue to encourage my students to look at the subject areas more in depth. The best way to get students to participate more is to ask them questions. Students do not want to be seen as not answering their instructors questions.
Nichole
