Class participation
Class participation in my opinion, is crucial and an integral part to online learning. Many students for various reasons do not attend and/or participate in live chats. Also, many students do not participate on the discussions board (DB), and others submit their individual projects (IP) late.
Augustine,
I suggest adding something that is happening in the world right now to your discussion questions. This tends to get students involved more.
Shelly Crider
Adding "current" material to your course discussions is engaging and promotes some lively discussion. It can range from a controversial film, a significant historical event,etc.-you can tie it to your content if you are really clever and the students will never know they have been "boosted" to participate.
Carla,
Most people like controversial topics....seems what society is made of now!!
Shelly Crider
I feel my students do not participate in live chats because they can e-mail or call me anytime. They do not have to wait for a certain time to join a chat because they can contact me anytime.
K.Colston
Kim,
In my experience, you will get a few students who will participate each time. I have never had full cooperation. I do tend to get several more students when the topic is interesting or if I hold it in Week One to give expectations!
Shelly Crider
It is certainly a challenge getting some students engaged. Having clear guidelines regarding requirements and outcomes, sending reminders periodically, assigning points for participation and contributions and encouraging involvement are all necessary I have found, to get most people involved.
Rathin Basu
Rathin,
Clear guidelines regarding requirement is a must....I very much agree!
Shelly Crider
I agree that current material can promote engaging discussion. However, I find sometimes that the conversation can quickly shift away from the material toward the "current" topic. I teach sociology so current topics are a must. In my online courses I find that when I us current events I need to be sure to monitor the discussion closely and make sure it does not go off the rails. For example a discussion of how cell phones influence social interaction is great but sometimes it turns into a discussion of new cell phone apps if not watch carefully by the instructor.
Our DL course does not use synchronous (live-chat) dicussions owing to the worldwide location of our students. We have required dicussion minimums with assigned point values as well as individual project (writing assignments) that have to be submitted on time. Late assignments without legitimate excuse and penalized. All of which is described in a Student Handout a start of course.
Tipton,
I like how your policies are described at the start of a course. There are times when it is needed about half way through as well.
Shelly Crider
I agree. If a student begins to lag behind we remind them of the policies that are in out Student Guide; that each student acknowledges by signing at the beginning of the course
Tipton,
Ahhhh, signing a document at the beginning of a term really puts the ownership on the student. Good job!
Shelly Crider
I find this to be true in many cases Augustine. Normally these are the student who are not doing as well as those participating.
Class participation can be encouraged by having the participation (especially the quality of the participation) count towards the grade. The responsbility lies with the student to enter the discussion and the quality (= how much the content adds to the learning of the class as a whole) is assessed and given a grade. The instructor needs to have the technology at hand to identify each student and his/her input to the discussion whether synchronous or asynchronous.
Herschel,
This is the same as saying when you have money on line, you will work harder toward the goal.
Shelly Crider
