Tuesday, February 8, 2011

How to facilitate a discussion in an online course: some quick points

These are some points that shared by Mary Wall, the instructor of the ION practicum course that I am currently enrolled in:

1. Teachers ask questions with one right answer and then are disturbed when there is not much interaction. If you ask: "What is Marketing?" in a marketing class and the first respondent copies from the book then what is the possible response that will be substantive? I realize asking application questions is more difficult in courses with a large quantitative component.

2. Faculty either being absent from the discussion or overwhelming it. I think the materials in this class on "using tones and voices" can help all of us.

3. Not making clear what the expectations are. In the undergrad class I teach (which I was able to design) I give examples of good responses (I have asked a student in my first class to allow me to copy hers) and responses that do not give full credit. I realize that some educational psychologists like Ellen Langer from Harvard feel that giving examples stifles creativity but I find it helps students.

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