Meaningful interaction among students in online courses

Posted At : May 8, 2008 12:24 PM | Posted By : Edgar Gonzalez
Related Categories: Topics of Interest, News

Simply providing online discussion forums is not enough to keep students engaged in virtual courses, according to educators who are well-versed in online instruction: For real learning to occur in an online setting, virtual-school educators must establish clear rubrics and enforce rules for participation.

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The article started off well but then in order to continue reading we had to have "free" registration, Why?
# Posted By wbaker | 5/23/08 1:51 PM
This is a very important topic. I have found that the best way to use discussion is to create a space for meaningful interaction where students discuss personal connections to specific topics within the course. This means that questions are open ended and allow for opinions or ways to apply the concepts learned in their practice . For example. I expect opinions and positions to be supported with evidence from readings, course notes or field experiences. Then, to really make the discussion go, I have to require more than just one posting. Otherwise, it is just a teacher directed activity. I usually expect students to respond a minimum of 2 or 3 times. The first posting is usually more involved and is a reponse to my prompt. Then they should respond to comments made by other students. This allows for interaction between students and they help each other to make meaning of the complexities of the course. Sometimes, I require one response to a student with whom they disagree. The discussion is graded by quality and quantity of interaction.
# Posted By aostorga | 6/26/08 6:00 PM
It is a great strategy to pose questions that are open ended in a discussion board. This prompts the students to get involved and start participating. I wonder if this is enough to get the conversation going, or if it is necessary to explicitly tell the students to answer or contribute to the discussions by providing a rubric that can serve as a guide for them.

I was not aware of the registration requirements. However, this website has some good news articles regularly. I would suggest you register to be able to read the article in full. As part of the registration you can opt out from receiving emails if you don't want to be bothered with e-newsletters and all that sort of SPAM.
# Posted By edgar | 6/27/08 10:50 AM
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