Sense of Class - Developing online discussions

Activity # 1. Join the A Sense of Class discussion forum and get set up. Choose new user and fill fields labeled with a red dot. Create your profile.

Hints: Login name is best if you just use your first and last name here. Students have used CB handles, but they forget them and then they can't sign in. You can use just your first name, if you are sure that no one of the other 2000 students have the same name!

What is a sense of class? It's the synergy in the classroom. And, YES, this can be replicated online.However, this doesn't just happen by itself.

Rule of 3 for online discussions

Must be carefuly crafted.
Must be coached.
Must be valued.

Carefully crafted = Planning ahead of time

Generic Planning Document
Sample Planning Document for one week of a reading class

Coached

Faciliating Every Student in Online Courses

Valued

Caveat: Don't put yourself in the middle of the discussion.

Computer Activity Directions
(Note: these directions are also repeated in the discussion forum. In the online environmnent, repetition IS good. Besides by the time you click on the link and get to the right conference, you may have forgotten what is it that you are supposed to do!)

Activity # 2 In the discussion area , click on the Hello Conference. You will find a message called Directions, which is a repeat of these directions for a handy reference.

Click Post to get a blank message on the right hand column.

In the subject line, put "your name" hello, i.e. lucy's hello.

In the message say hi, g'day, bonjour or whatever strikes your fancy. Then tell us what you teach.

Next, let us know what is the one most important idea, concept, item that you want to get out of today's workshop.

Yes, you can read what everyone else says as well.

Click post and you will get a draft of your message with a spell checker included for editing. Once proofed, click post again and your message will be added to the conference, which you can see in the left hand column.

Adding tone to your conversation:

Emoticons and Acronyms

DON'T SHOUT!

Activity #3 How do instructors introduce themselfs to their class? Let's meet some instructors and see how they do it.

Click on your conference group. You will see that I have left a message that says REPLY HERE. Click on that message and start "replying". Everyone in your group can reply to the original message and/or to each other. You will see how threaded messages are built.

Your task is to discuss the introductions highlighting what you like and don't like and how you might approach such a task for your classes. How formal will you be? How informal?

Activity #4 Now comes the hard part. Now is your turn to try your hand at writing an introduction for yourself to your own class. In the subject line, write "your name" introduction, i.e. lucy's intro.

Quick Tips for Online Facilitation - Here is a list that covers process, tips for task-oreinted groups, tips for dealing with difficult situations and structural and content tips. My favorites are:

Have fun.
Use common sense.
When all else fails, ask and listen. Again. Again.

William Draves, How the internet will change how we learn gives us some good graphics. However, some predictions don't fit with active teaching/learning pedagogy, like having 1,000 students in a class!

Caveats for online discussions appear in 5 Online Community Poison Pills.

One strategy for online class discussion is to enlist the help of guest lecturers, which may be the author of your textbook, a professional in the field, an expert, a professor at another college, etc. Check out this guest lecture by Jennifer Keithley.

Activity #5 In your groups, discuss the use of guest lecturers and/or the content presented by this guest lecturer. What do you like or dislike? How would you use this information? Would you use a guest lecturer in your class? Why/why not?

Grading online participation: Unless you "value" online participation, students will not see this as an integral part of the course. In the student's view, value is determined by points or a grade of some kind.

I like to give bonus points to the student who starts first. This insures that discussion is not left until the last minute.

Usually, I assign points as complete/not completed. Students can then apply these points to their test scores. However, many of the discussion questions show up in the tests and students who have not thoughfully participated in the critical thinking activities are at a disadvantage.

Here is another view by a professor at UCLA .

Course evaluation may also be done online. Here are the midterm evaluation results of a class at the University of Illinois.

Final Activity

Complete the online evaluation in the discussion area. Yes, you may be anonymous. Just click on the anonymous check box . All you need to do is choose "reply and quote" and the questions will automatically be put into the message area for you. Then you can just insert your cursor where you want to give feedback. You can also erase questions that don't pertain to you. Have fun.

Annotated list of books about online discussions.