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| Role of technology in engaging students in discussions |
Click on the link to access the rubric for this blog.
Required Readings:
Oosterhof, A., Conrad,
R.-M., & Ely, D. P. (2008). Assessing
learners online. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
Palloff, R.M. and Pratt, K (2009). Assessing
the online learner: Resources and strategies for faculty.
San Francisco, CA:
Jossey-Bass.
Optional reading:
Ragan, L. (2008). Best practices in an online
teaching. Retrieved from http://cnx.org/content/col10453/1.2/
Wenger (1998) posits that discussions
“provide inventive ways of engaging students in meaningful practice with the
access of resources that enhance their participation” (p.10). You probably have
engaged in several face-to-face discussions in your day-to-day lives and in
this course during the asynchronous discussions. Consider the following
questions as you think more about online discussion forums: In what ways has
your engagement in some of these discussions contributed to building a learning
community? What were the most salient features of the community you participated
in that helped to develop your relationship with other students? Which aspects
of your participation in the discussion forums do you think contributed the
most to the development of the performance skills for your course? (Oosterhof,
Conrad, & Ely, 2008). Use the internet to search for the assessment tools
that can contribute to motivating students to engage in online discussions.
Utilizing this week resources and your
experience of engaging in various discussions, respond to the following
questions:
·
Have your online asynchronous
discussions been different from your face-to-face discussions in terms of their
ability to build a learning community? In what ways were the experiences
different?
·
Which combination of technology tools
would you recommend as best for encouraging students to work with others in an
online discussion?
·
What are the opportunities and
challenges of growing the level of engagement in an online learning community?
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| Engaging in online learning community |
By Wednesday
Post your ideas and reflections on the contribution of online discussion
to the development of online learning communities and describe the role
of technology in building communities in online learning environment.
Lastly, describe some ways in which online discussions contribute to the meaningful
and effective learning community.
By Sunday
Engage, in a discussion, with two or more of the postings that you have
read. You may choose to engage with the
posting by posing a question, a comment or offer a reaction that perhaps
compares the ideas you have read to your own ideas and experiences.
Continue the discussion by returning to the postings in a few days, to
see what reactions and comments your colleagues have subsequently posted in
response to your own reactions. Please respond to any comments, questions
and/or suggestions that may have since been added to the discussion.
Reference:
Oosterhof, A., Conrad,
R.-M., & Ely, D. P. (2008). Assessing
learners online. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of practice: Learning, meaning,
and identity. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
I have found online discussions to be a huge benefit to the learning community. When I began this degree at Walden, I was a little hesitant being overseas and not having studied for several years. It took me a while to get into the routine and flow of the weekly discussions but I now look forward to them as a great learning experience where I find myself consolidating the information from the readings, reading others’ interpretations and seeking further knowledge from outside readings.
ReplyDeleteI find discussions to be a great contribution to the learning community as I believe we as students are learning together which helps to reduce the feelings of isolation. We offer support and build on each others’ learning as we comment on each others’ posts.
I like being able to have discussion with my classmates. Because we are involved in online learning, we do not have the face-to-face interaction like in traditional classroom. Discuss replaces face-to-face interaction. It gives students an outlet to communicate and share ideas.
ReplyDeleteFrom Thuthu:
ReplyDeleteGreat job in setting up a collaborative activity!
You mentioned, “in what ways has your engagement in some of these discussions contributed to building a learning community?”
For me, we did not have established discussion questions in my undergraduate program but I value the discussions we have in my graduate program because it allows me to think of different perspectives for the learning concepts and how to apply the concepts in different real world applications. Each student brings different experience and knowledge to the classroom so while we are collectively learning new concepts, integrating those new ideas with prior experiences and knowledge and then exchanging that information among classmates provides a much richer learning experience than an individual learning experience without collaboration.
You mentioned, “what were the most salient features of the community you participated in that helped to develop your relationship with other students?”
Prior to this class and my last class, I did not see the value of ice breakers in an online environment. I have learned since then that students in an online environment feel isolated from their classmates and in order to bridge the physical distance, ice breakers can make students build relationships and connect with their classmates so they do not feel as isolated. An ice breaker allows students to begin to establish trust when students need to collaborate in the course (Oosterhof, Conrad, & Ely, 2008).
References
Oosterhof, A., Conrad, R.-M., & Ely, D. P. (2008). Assessing learners online. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
Hi Thuthu. I would like to respond to the question: Which combination of technology tools would you recommend as best for encouraging students to work with others in an online discussion?
ReplyDeleteI always thought that a wiki is a good idea for students to use when working together. Since online learners live in different time zones the wiki is helpful as an asynchronous discussion tool. There is always a record of what has been written, and documents, projects and presentations can be reviewed and edited by everyone (Oosterhof, A., Conrad, R.-M., & Ely, D. P., 2008) . The wiki makes it easy for instructors to identify work from each individual for grading purposes.
Keisha
Oosterhof, A., Conrad, R.-M., & Ely, D. P. (2008). Assessing learners online. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
Thank you all guys for feedback and comments.
ReplyDelete