Learning Ecosystems

My notes from Thursday, 10/11/12 Sloan-C presentation by Hayley Lake & Patrick Lordan from Eastern Washington University, US
The discussion board audit: How will I know what I think until I see what I say

Discussion boards / forums are great for:

• Reading and using research to support viewpoints/perspectives
• Writing
• Deeper reflections
• Communications
  • Need to get point across succinctly
  • Decide what’s important
  • Tailor language to audience
  • Be professional
• Critical thinking
• Student-to-student interactions – students can generate their own online community
• Time management and study skills
• Can be relevant to real world and draw upon students’ experiences
• Bringing out the wall-flowers – they can come alive and really contribute in this manner
• Thinking more meta-cognitively and growing in self-awareness

(Bearing in mind a class size of 24-30 students per class)
Except for first two weeks, did not answer each posting; instead, typically the professor looked for themes and provided a weekly recap. Straightened out any wrong understandings.

Characteristics of reflective learners

• Curious
• Open to criticism and different approaches
• Honest
• Motivated to improve

Used the idea of a Discussion board audit

• For closure
• For summative assessment
• For deeper learning/reflection; richness, depth, self-evaluation
• Based off Mark Samples’ (George Mason University) blog audit
• Re-read all DB postings, mark them up, analyze own work; look for themes and ideas worth revisiting, assess own learning
• Really helped students see how they had learned, changed, grown

Another discussion board related presentation was:
Cleaning Out the Crickets: Enhancing Faculty Presence in Online Instruction
John J. Oprandy, Ph.D., South University, College of Nursing and Public Health, Health Sciences Program Online; Savannah, GA, US

• John presented an alternative approach to discussion board questions and assignments aimed at helping students think critically
• Discussed the merits of this approach and how to execute it
• DB’s targeted as one of the most important ways to teach a student online
• In their model:
  • Professor:
    • Sets expectations up front on when going to respond and how going to respond – i.e. NOT going to respond to each person’s every posting
    • Responds to each student’s main post; students respond to 2 other students
    • Use open ended, carefully crafted questions; questions need to be more complex in nature
    • Offers substantive responses, leads/guides discussion, models good writing, offers timely responses
    • Summarizes info and adds something new
    • Asks probing follow up questions to guide the conversations/learning – “It’s like putting pieces of a puzzle together.”
    • Provides final wrap up
• What NOT to do:
  • Provide short/trite responses, give away the answer, give feedback that better belongs in the gradebook
• This approach requires daily interaction and participation
• Rubrics important and must align with approach
• Works best with smaller groups
• Faculty liked it because they often had to think on their feet