Blogging
Should students be required to attend online activities that are a part of the course? Many times, chats are optional but yet they are very beneficial.
Lesley,
That is true, you have to set the expectations so students know what is expected. I provide examples of good posts and bad posts to make sure students understand.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Sometimes the issue with a forum or blog, is that students will wait for one person to post, then they will just "re-word" the content. This can be a risk with a chat, but there are many good elements that can contribute to student learning.
Alana,
I agree with you. I think you must weigh the benefits of synchronous learning with the anytime learning.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Christen,
That is true. I struggle with the use of chats as it really becomes a planning nightmare with students from different time zones. I do use virtual office hours and spread them out around the week.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Roshawna,
That is your call. As beneficial as it is, I think it can be frustrating when you have students from all over in different time zones. I would record your sessions.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
I agree that chats are very beneficial, and it would be wonderful for them to be mandatory (even if just listening to the archive was mandatory). However, the asynchronous nature of social media/online activities would allow those to be mandatory without creating the scheduling headache that would occur with required attendance at live chats.
Hi Roshawna
For your question, I think students should do online activities but not be synchronous always in nature due to time zone differences, etc. Asynchronous activities are perfect for students to learn how to be an online student or learn online.
Thanks
Alana Halsne-Baarda
