1. IGI Global Online Symposium Series
Producing Increased Interaction and Critical Thinking in the College Classroom: In Search of Authentic Online Discussion    IGI Global Online Symposium Series      
Producing Increased Interaction and Critical Thinking in the College Classroom: In Search of Authentic Online Discussion 
IGI Global Online Symposium Series
Hosted by: Dr. Leonard Shedletsky, Professor of Communication at the University of Southern Maine, USA Date: Monday, April 18, 2011 Time: 4:10 pm (EST) 
Lecture notes available at:

2. POLL QUESTIONS QUESTION 1
This question is for teachers of online courses:
Have you been satisfied with discussion in your online classes?
A. YES
B. NO
C. Once in a while
D. RARELY

3. QUESTION 2 This question is for teachers of online courses:
Have your online students responded to one another in a meaningful way?
A. No
B. Yes
C. Once in a while
D. Rarely

4. QUESTION 3 This question is for students of online courses:
3. Have your online course discussions been important to your learning or have you found them generally to be busy work?
They have been important to my learning
Busy work
A mix, close to 50/50
It’s just a chore to be done

5. QUESTION 4 For both teachers and students:
4. Do you believe there is something the teacher can do to facilitate online discussions so that the discussions are authentic, interactive and comprised of high quality, text-related posts?
A. Yes
B. No

6. Besides how to discuss, we need to decide why to discuss?

7. A CLAIM
The amount and the quality of online discussion is quite poor.

8. VIDEO: STRUGGLING TO DISCUSS
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