Building Better Online and Blended Classroom Discussions by Design

BUILDING BETTER ONLINE AND BLENDED CLASSROOM

DISCUSSIONS BY DESIGN

Jason NeifferAssistant Director/Curriculum Director @ MTDA

NCCE Tech-Savvy Teacher-in-Residence

Doctoral Candidate @ University of Montana

@techsavvyteach

Mike AgostinelliInstructional Program Manager @ MTDA

NCCE Tech-Savvy Teacher-in-Residence

@mikegusto

These slides:http://blog.ncce.org

Have you been a participate in a forum discussion before?

Overall, what is your perception of online discussions?

Have you lead a forum discussion before before?

Best aspect of a forum discussion?

Worst aspect of a forum discussion?

The Problem

Overuse Overuse

Poorly-Designed Discussions

Discussion Fatigue

AS A STUDENT, what is your overall satisfaction of classroom

discussion?

AS A TEACHER, what has been your overall satisfaction with

discussion?

Drill down: Levels of Engagement

None

•Teacher states question

•Students discuss without teacher interaction

Basic Feedback

•Teacher states question

•Teacher provides direct, generic feedback ("good job!" or "great question!")

Feedback with Facilitation

•Teacher states question

•Techer provides direct feedback with redirecting questions

Building Student Connections

•Teacher states question

•Techer provides direct feedback with questions that connect ideas and students

…teachers should digitally touch EVERY student in an online discussion.

The Model: Community of Inquiry

Interactivity should be the cornerstone of online discussion forums!

Interactivity should be the cornerstone of online discussion forums!

Garrison, Anderson, and Archer (2000)

Designing Online Discussions

Instructional Design

• “This week we will be discussing…”Setting Curriculum

• “I am going to divide you into groups, and you will debate…”Designing Methods

• “Please post a message by Friday…”Establishing Time

Parameters

• “Try to address issues that others have raised when you post”

Utilizing Medium Effectively

• “Keep your messages short”Establishing netiquette

Anderson et al (2001)

Writing Good Discussion Questions

Convergent Thinking

Why

How

In what ways...

Divergent Thinking

Imagine

Suppose

Predict

If...., then....

How might....

Can you create...

Evaluative Thinking

Defend

Judge

Justify....

What do you think about...

Anderson et al (2001)

Setting the Stage

•“Bates says.... What do you think” Present Content Questions

•“I think that is a dead end. I would ask you to consider...” Focus the discussion

•“The original question was...Joe said...Mary said ...we concluded that ...We still haven't addressed”

Summarize the discussion

•“You are close, but you didn't account for... this is important because...”

Confirm understanding through explanatory feedback

•“Remember, Bates is speaking from an administrative perspective, so be careful when you say...”

Diagnose misconceptions

Anderson et al (2001)

Facilitating Discourse

• “Joe, Mary has presented a compelling counter example to your theory. Would you care to respond?”

Identifying areas of agreement/disagreement

• “I think Joe and Mary are essentially saying the same thing.”

Seeking to reach consensus/understanding

• “Thank you for your insightful comments” Encouraging student

contributions

• “Don't feel self-conscious about "Thinking out loud" in the forum...”

Setting the climate for learning

• “I think we're getting off track here"Assess the learning path

Anderson et al (2001)

For Students: Discussion Starters

I agree with ______. I would like to also add that… ___________.

I agree with part of your posting. I support you on ____, but I feel differently about _____. Let me explain why… _________________

THANK YOU!Jason Neiffer

Assistant Director/Curriculum Director @ MTDA

NCCE Tech-Savvy Teacher-in-Residence

Doctoral Candidate @ University of Montana

@techsavvyteach

Mike AgostinelliInstructional Program Manager @ MTDA

NCCE Tech-Savvy Teacher-in-Residence

@mikegusto

http://blog.ncce.org

Resources■ http://online.purdue.edu/sites/prd/files/Validating-a-Measurement-Tool-of-

Presence-in-Online-Communities-of-Inquiry.pdf

■ http://cde.athabascau.ca/coi_site/documents/Anderson_Rourke_Garrison_Archer_Teaching_Presence.pdf

■ Use of audio in feedback loop research: http://jolt.merlot.org/vol7no1/olesova_0311.htm

■ https://academics.utep.edu/Portals/844/nofo/Using%20Discussions%20in%20Online%20Courses.pdf

■ http://www.rasmussen.edu/student-life/blogs/college-life/creating-the-perfect-discussion-post-for-online-classes/

■ http://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/making-the-online-grade/2013/11/08/benefits-drawbacks-of-online-class-discussion-boards

■ http://tep.uoregon.edu/technology/blackboard/docs/discussionboard.pdf

■ https://coi.athabascau.ca/

Lab