Before, During, and After the Lecture: Use of Online Discussions (aka Bulletin Boards) Robert Baird CITES EdTech Cinema Studies Feb. 2005

The Long Process of Evolution Initial learning curve of discussion tool software Long term adaptation: learning to exploit online environment Takes long time to adapt

Discussion Board Fundamentals (compare with f2f class): Web-Based & Public (by default to entire class, or even entire world) Recursive Communication (post n reply) Asynchronous (24X7 publishing and reading) Messages Remain Available (by default, unless instructor deletes) Searchable Text-based (but can easily hyperlink, illustrate, and attach files)

Management Issues: Isn’t the time investment scary? you have to let the students know when they can expect to get in contact with you. Posting your office hours, setting expectations for replies to and even letting the students know when your personal time starts and stops. Chris Weaver

Management Issues: Isn’t the time investment scary? The big complaint about Discussion Boards is that it takes a lot of time. It can if you are lucky. If you spend your time up front providing great content, exacting guidelines and open questions, you will find that the posting are interesting and enlightening. If you see reading the postings as a way to grade the students a little bit every week rather than reading term papers at the end of the semester, it puts the workload into perspective. Chris Weaver

Management Issues: Learning about and developing experience building and managing online discussions is key to keeping the time investment worthwhile

Management Issues: Seek and try out the most efficient strategies for reading, responding, searching, printing, citing, grading, and archiving discussion posts

Establish a Community Learning Space: Ethics & Behavior: –Respect –Tone –Productive argument

Establish a Community Learning Space: Grading rubric: –from “participation” to specific numeric scale for assignments, midterms, and finals –For a sophisticated rubric to be shared with students see Susan Colaric’s 4 level guide at Strategies.html

Establish a Community Learning Space: Expectations: quantity, quality, response time, grammar & spelling, writing style on range from formal to informal must tell students about compliment sandwich! students get credit for providing peers with additional citations

Establish a Community Learning Space: Expectations are established by the Instructor’s –Guidelines and rubric –Initial, get-things-going postings in new topics –Modeling of posting, responding, critiquing, and so forth –Grading –Praising & referencing of student work –Cautionary s to slackers and belligerents

(Must Have) Specific Teaching and Learning Goals: –Integration of online discussions with classroom discussion and course work –Give students some % of course credit for work in discussion boards

Building Discussion Topics: It’s like laying out a garden—if you don’t plan you get an overgrown garden instead of a well- designed garden

Building Discussion Topics: Types: –Icebreakers & community building (cyber café; introductions; trivia) –Help desk (content, course, teaching questions) –Instructor/content-driven (chapter questions; online assignments; responses to readings/problem sets) –Student group work (scheduling and coordination; project planning) –Student/content driven (show and tell; current events tie-ins)

Discussions should Support Your Global Teaching Strategies: Want to Improve Your Lectures? Listen to Your Students and Adapt Lectures Accordingly

Discussions should Support Your Global Teaching Strategies: Validate student successes and red flag confusions through your responses referencing and quoting of students postings ongoing grading offering best posting awards each week incorporating student ideas into your lectures

Discussions should Support Your Global Teaching Strategies: Expose the Student Learning (and not learning) and Problem Solving Processes

Discussions should Support Your Global Teaching Strategies: Achieve More Frequent, Extensive, and Detailed Student Feedback

Discussions should Support Your Global Teaching Strategies: Provide a Time and Place for Modeling, Observing, and Coaching Student Processes and Performance

Resources “Tips for Facilitating Online Discussions” by Leslie Bowman and George Paris “Assessment of Online Discussions” by Leslie Bowman and George Paris "Using Focused Web-Based Discussions to Enhance Student Interaction and Deep Understanding" by Caroline Hodges Persell of New York University _board.pdf Discussion Board Decision Tree, by Chris Weaver of East Carolina University “Developing a Learning Community” by Susan Colaric