Facilitating Online Discussions: Tips and Strategies

Presented by Dr. Sue Stoddart

My instructor was virtually invisible – not in the online world!

Ask probing questions, you can check on unread discussions, might have a requirement that you have to comment on 3 posts, if you don’t participate on online discussion it’s like sitting with your hands over your ears in a live classroom.
We get to really know our students in the online learning area.

Great online discussions do not just happen. They happen because of what you do.

Before:

• Clarify goals & objectives – what do you want them learn from the discussion
• Plan guiding questions for the discussion
• Design activities that will prepare students to discuss
• Talk about discussion
• Set ground rules – provide a rubric –go out do some discussion and come back to the discuss

Rubric: /5

quality information not just quantity, resources - give reference to your resources, interaction (what is expected), participation – require a minimum amount and hope they add more, delivery – tone of comments, no flaming. Discussion tips

During:

Great discussion are purposefully led

• Ask questions that establish what students understand before asking them to do more complex or original thinking
• Ask follow-up questions that allow students to develop or clarify a response

After

Great discussions are assessed

· Debriefing or journals – provide a record or summary of key points as they emerge –things they learned from the discussions, activities, chats etc

· Draw connections between the day’s discussion and other topics – even a final project.

· Evaluate their responses based on the ground rules for participation and inclusiveness – not just quantity but quality of responses

· Use your rubric! Give lots of feedback.

Great discussions lead to more discussions

• How will the next discussion build on the learning created in this discussion?
• Use students’ comments or written responses to help you plan the next discussion

***have your course built before you start the course, this teacher only releases a week at a time (Wednesdays)

• Emphasize connections between the new topic and earlier discussions.

Online Discussion to Extend the Traditional Classroom

• Student interaction outside the class
• Seek clarification for issue encountered in coursework
• Build on one another’s perspectives and gain deeper understanding
• Class preparation
• Monitoring the class discussion will help you identify topics that need clarification of have captured the interest of students
• Shy students
• Students who lack confidence
• Students find they do have things to contribute and gain confidence

Chat Rooms

• 1:1 conversations with students
• Group work
• Special topics

“I will be online on Saturday at 10:00 for anyone who is interested”

• Author – book talk

Reasons Online Discussions Fail

• No community
• No motivation
• Unfamiliarity
• Instructor not involved
• No credit
• Unrealistic goals

Snagit –Camtasia –to show students how to participate in discussions
She has handouts for everything you have to do with the online course’

15 – 20 students per class, anymore than that becomes difficult to manage.
Don’t use face to face classrooms as an example for online learning.
It’s time to reinvent education!
Experiment with all aspects of the course, to learn the program and then look at the best practice.