using online forums in educational settings
TRANSCRIPT
USING ONLINE FORUMS
FORUM:
• Originally:
a public meeting or assembly for open discussion
• Internet Era:
bulletin board, discussion board; a virtual place of online discussion (NOT broadcast)
Intended as a many to many channel of communication
Forums, Discussion or Bulletin Boards
• more suited to high level discussion due to asynchronous nature
• often use the discourse of debate and can therefore be daunting
• text is left there for all to see; a semi-permanent record
Forums, Discussion or Bulletin Boards
• FORUMS are removed - you need (metaphorically speaking) to go to the next room to take part; it is a considered action to go and take part
Effective Communication Online• Use appropriate tone• Acknowledge contributions of others
- by name• Acknowledge others’ points of view
as valid• Balance personal with formal• Beware of cultural issues esp
humour• You will at times be misunderstood
Gilly Salmon’s 5 StageModel
Getting connected;knowing where to goand what to do
Getting to knowpeople
Tasks andlearning materials
Knowledge construction;collaboration
Reflect/evaluate
Stages of Readiness
• Some would argue that unless an online student is at least at stage 3 on the Salmon model, no meaningful forum discourse is likely
• Students first need to be comfortable and familiar with the learning environment
Example: stage 2
Hi! My name is Annette W and this is definitely a new way of learning for me.
I'm not used to not seeing the people that I'm learning
with in class. I'm looking forward to this new medium
and hope you all feel the same.
Hope to hear from you soon
Bye for now
This student may not be ready to launch into
academic discussions in an online forum.
Example: stage 4 “We see clusters of course development here,
too. Some of this is can be the support services in place in the department, and some of it can be explained by the "Diffusion of Innovations" work by Everett Rogers.Rogers says that there are five interrelated attributes that accompany the diffusion of technology: its relative advantage when compared with other methods; its compatibility with the existing culture; its complexity of use; if it can be experienced in a limited way; and there is the ability to observe how others have used it. The clustering of faculty in one department or college speaks to the latter attribute. Part of the strategy we employ to enhance this effect is a series of "Showcases" at which faculty speak to faculty
about their experiences.”
- Catherine G
This student is clearly ready to engage in
online forums.
Online socialisation (stage 2)
• May be a necessary stage for some online students and can be built in to interactions early in a course
• socialisation in f2f situations happens in defacto fashion
• Caution against the risk of over disclosure
FORUMS: ISSUES FOR MODERATORS?
• Who starts discussions?• How long do you let them go?• How do you bring about
closure?• How do you deal with flaming?
(private approach is always better)
• appoint co-moderators from participants and create sub-forums
FORUMS: ISSUES FOR MODERATORS• Model and Encourage concise
postings• 8 -10 lines is a good average length • Discourage short ‘me too’ type posts• should they be assessed? (YES!)• Model and Encourage inline replies• Divergent v convergent thinking >
forums not a great decision making tool
• use in conjunction with chat, virtual classroom, or f2f meetings
How to get people involved?
• All things being equal most people will not participate in forums, unless there is something in it for them.
• Make it worth their while -information has to be good, provocative, useful, amusing
• Bait people – send messages saying “if you go to the forum this week you’ll see…..”
HOW TO GET PEOPLE INVOLVED?
• Use lead-in statements > prompts ownership from participants
How to get people involved?
• Put info in forum that can’t be found elsewhere
• Reward participation – competitions, prizes, public congratulations
• Privately ask some people to start or respond to a thread
• Use guests for selected topics for set period
• Canvas group for topics and have weeks featuring topics provided by group
How to get people involved?
• For longer discussions have someone write summary of the discussion to date
• Create a bogus identity and stir up trouble!
• Experiment with different perspectives (eg De Bono’s Hats)
collect info/state facts
feelingsand intuition
positive
negative/caution
creativity
reflect
deBono’s six thinking hats
How to get people involved?
• Have someone be the personality of the week and reveal something of their personal lives, and answer personal and professional questions
• Create a sense of community• Beg and plead!
from *Ripley, D.E, Using Technology to Improve the Quality of Classroom Instruction, International Conference on Computers and Education Proceedings, Auckland, 2002)
THE R9 APPROACH
WHAT A (good) ONLINE HOST WANTS TO ACHIEVE:
• The ongoing goal is civil discourse: all kinds of people having conversations and arguments about a variety of subjects and treating
each other decently. • Authentic conversations -- from the head, the heart, and the gut.
• A feeling of ownership. Participants become evangelists.
• A spirit of group creativity, experimentation, exploration, good will.
• A shared commitment to work together toward better communication, better conversations. If this is achieved, nothing else is needed.
• A system where people figure out where the conversation is going, by themselves, and settle conflicts among themselves
(courtesy of Howard Rheingold at http://www.emoderators.com/moderators/artonlinehost.html)
Facilitating Forums….easy as!
THANK YOU
