Moving the Discussion Forward
Communications on discussion boards broaden the experience and knowledge of both students and instructor. An excellent way of doing this is for the person communicating to share a personal experience (if possible) demonstrating how a particular concept that is presented in the discussion board topic. When others see a concept "in action" it makes what may be very conceptual very real.
William,
Ah - camaraderie. I love it. It's what develops when students become a community of learners. We do have to think about how to include new students as we move forward in our courses. Thanks!
William,
We do need to talk to students about sourcing information properly and learning how to do summaries. I use SafeAssign to show students how plagairism may "appear" if students do not cite sources properly. Thanks.
William,
Real life examples and involving all students is what we try to continue to do in all of our courses. Thanks for your input.
William,
You are right. Students do think many times that just because they post something, they deserve full credit. That is why I use a rubric for postings and also give examples of good/bad posting. Thanks for your input.
William,
Yes, if you can connect the discussion board to real life and course content, engagement will increase. Thanks for sharing.
William,
Providing prompts is good, we just have to be careful to not take over the discussion. I also many times assign a student to summarize the discussion when it is over. Thanks.
One of the most beneficial tools that can be used is in the review process at the end of the week and the scoring of the posting requirements; essentially by making not just particular comments on what the student posted by encouraging through words continued research and dovetailing into the material and concepts covered during that week of study. Often times a student feels just because they posted as you get full credit; the full credit should only be awarded when the post is Substantive and covers the material content required in order to affect Tivoli address the issue. It is than the essential to use positive strokes in your comments as an instructor and encourage the continued attenuation of such behavior by the particular student.
If you are working with a group of student's who have been going through and a particular program of study for a period of months we see a spirit of collegiality and camaraderie develop as they get closer to the completion of the program and the fruition of their degree requirements. It is very important though to acknowledge any newcomers to the sessions as they will continue forward within the program after the other move on to other endeavors
Often times students have a habit of quoting directly from source material in order to attempt to eliminate as well's illustrate the topic being discussed. The question remains to they really understand what the article was saying? An effort to do so students need to be encouraged to interpret their findings and post the result not just site or copy of the findings from their source material.
As you move the discussions forward it is very beneficial to draw I will the students from the different generations that we have in the particular makeup of the course. Usually this is best done as has already been pointed out through the interjection within the discussion area of the forum of real-life examples from which others can benefit as well as perceived some prejudice as well as strengths as a relates to the topical material
In order to keep things moment throughout a form discussion is often very helpful to interject a
Dia or thought which of course is topical related but is essential to keep of the forum from becoming stalled and the students basically just rehashing of a point over and over. Often times though the form can actually be self-sustaining if you require the students to research the topical material and related to the particular concept or project they are developing.
Bringing of the scenarios as discussed in the courses into a real-life situation for comparison purposes stimulates the forum discussion environment as well as guides of the students through the process and stimulating Substantive responses to the forum posts.
Tim,
Glad you student are opening up through discussion boards. It's good to have the students or you summarize the discussion once it is done. A recap is a good thing. Thanks!
I agree whole heartedly! I find discussion boards are a great tool to not only present real world knowledge and insight into current topics but by encouraging others to share their experiences it encourages a wealth of future contacts for the classmates. I find many students open up in this form of communication.
Paula,
When we seem human as instructors - the students can start to build community within the class and feel like they are a part of the process and not just a number.
It's good to get them involved with their own stories as well. Thanks!
Sharing personal experiences is a great strategy to engage students and to draw them in to the discussion as chances are, several will be able to relate to the various scenarios. Personal stories tend to paint a picture of the concept and they really illustrate it "in action," which is important for online learners.
Yetunde,
Yes, it helps connect the content to the real world. You can start as the instructor with a real life story.
Thanks for your input.
Using personal real life examples gets the student's attention and encourages them to participate.
Joan,
It's good that you try to help facilitate the conversation via the discussion board. You can also break them into smaller groups and and put a students in charge of leading the discussion. That works as well. Thanks!
