Question/answer board
Module 4 recommends the use of a question board (if the question is not already on the FAQ list). It suggests having students post questions and wait for student responses to their questions. It suggests forwarding the question to the instructor if the questions is not answered within 24 hours. Is this question/answer board different than an asynchronous discussion board? If so, should students ask the instructor questions directly on the asynchronous board?
Karin:
If a student does not find the answer to the question on the FAQ list, he or she should forward the question directly to the Instructor who should then provide an answer; then add the Question as well as theanswer to the FAQ list.
Satrohan
I view FAQ lists as organic They should evolve and change
Students should feel free to ask questions
posting questions and allowing , in fact encouraging students to participate is a great way to stimulate interaction as well as developing prolem solving skills
joel
Joel:
Questioning strategies is a marvelous way to maintain dynamic communication in an online environment. For all of the institutions of higher learning with which I work, we have agreed that students are not allowed to initiate Discussion forums. The primary reason for this is that the forum can get cluttered. Moreover, for students to be able to initiate Discussion forums, they will have to be given access privileges with which they can edit the course content-----something Institutions as well as Instructors do not want. Students can ask questions within the Disucssion thread, and e-mail questions to the Instructor.
Satrohan
I got the impression of the question board to be interactive with other students before the instructor involvelment of the question. Am I mis-understanding the use of the question board to be student inter-active? My impression is to allow students to give their input and answers then have the instructor give the students the correct answers. If I am understanding this correctly what would be an appropriate time frame for the instructor to give the correct answer? What would be adequate time for the students to interact on the question board?
Debra:
You have understood the use of the question Board correctly. These are my recommendations for your questions surrounding timing.
Some questions may require answers sooner than others. I recommend 24 hours for the students to interact with the Question Board. The Instructor should provide the correct answer very soon after the24 hour period has expired.
Satrohan
This is a GOOD question.
In my online classes, I always start a "Questions for John Maloney" thread before the class starts. In this thread, I state that I expect the entire class to be actively involved in answering questions posed to this thread. I personally check this thread every day though because I like to ensure that the questions are sufficiently addressed! My experience has been that this thread ends up being a fairly active area of communication for the class.
Anybody else have any experience with using this type of thread??
Thanks!
John:
This is an excellent facility---one that will result in the compilation and sharing of extensive knowledge generated from answers to the questions. If I were you, I would use the Q and A session for each session to compose an FAQ section to which all students for all sessions of your course can have access.
Satrohan
We have something that is similar at our web site. It is a space where students can enter questions that is monitored by the instructor of record. This is a great way for student to get their questions answered before the start of class the next day. It has been shown to raise the student's test average.
That is a great tool. I would also suggest that the question/answer board provide the instructor with some insight as to how the instructors are grasping the material.
Thanks for your post Jimmy.
