Moving the Discussion Forward
Communications on discussion boards broaden the experience and knowledge of both students and instructor. An excellent way of doing this is for the person communicating to share a personal experience (if possible) demonstrating how a particular concept that is presented in the discussion board topic. When others see a concept "in action" it makes what may be very conceptual very real.
Edward,
The "in action" is the key. When students see how something actually works, it's more meaningful. Thanks for your input.
As a pratitioner in my academic field I am able to bring real life situations into the scenario discussions. I feel that this is benificial. Since most learners are visual, this helps them form a picture in their mind of the actions associated with the theory.
Dave
David,
Connecting the real world to the classroom is essential. Excellent!
This is a valid concept. Remembering a personal experience will not only reinforce the learning objective but help inform other students as well.
Robert,
Yes, we all have different experiences and we can build upon them. Keep up he good work.
Edward-
Great point! I encourage my students to provide specific examples to demonstrate their understanding of concepts. Examples may come from research, personal experience, or may even be hypothetical, although I remind students that hypothetical examples are not as persuasive as real-life ones.
I find by encouraging the use of personal experience examples, I can draw out the older generations who may feel they have something to share.
Thanks for your post,
Gwenda
Discussion boards I've found is a great way to share ideas between students and disseminate information/knowledge faster. For instance great students do a good job in posting the discussion board requirements and show by example to others.
The key here that I've found challenging is having the first student post their work. As I tell students, if the requirement was to post to the discussion board by end of day Wed, I will have about 90% of students posting at that time. If the requirement is to post a min of three times, than that is what most students do. The students that excel are the ones who post early and more than three times.
Gwenda,
Exampling is an excellent way to determine if students understand the content. Any time students can put things I their own words, it is beneficial.
Thanks.
Dr. Tena B. Crews
Roberto,
Make sure the posts have substance. When you first tell student to post a minimum of three times, two if the posts will say "good job" or "I agree." That's not a good post. ;-) I have divided the class into groups and alternate, group one must post first by a certain date, then group two by another date, etc. and circle back to group one and confined. Then every student is not trying to post all at once or some posts three quickly and Ben never looks at the posts again. Just a thought.
Dr. Tena B. Crews
One of the main difficulties I have with discussions is that when somebody has posted an original everybody else seems to think the same thing in a little different word there doesn't seem to be any back-and-forth discussion now I post a new topic that ties into the original topic One-A-Day to try to help things along
Joan,
It's good that you try to help facilitate the conversation via the discussion board. You can also break them into smaller groups and and put a students in charge of leading the discussion. That works as well. Thanks!
Using personal real life examples gets the student's attention and encourages them to participate.
Yetunde,
Yes, it helps connect the content to the real world. You can start as the instructor with a real life story.
Thanks for your input.
Sharing personal experiences is a great strategy to engage students and to draw them in to the discussion as chances are, several will be able to relate to the various scenarios. Personal stories tend to paint a picture of the concept and they really illustrate it "in action," which is important for online learners.
Paula,
When we seem human as instructors - the students can start to build community within the class and feel like they are a part of the process and not just a number.
It's good to get them involved with their own stories as well. Thanks!
I agree whole heartedly! I find discussion boards are a great tool to not only present real world knowledge and insight into current topics but by encouraging others to share their experiences it encourages a wealth of future contacts for the classmates. I find many students open up in this form of communication.
Tim,
Glad you student are opening up through discussion boards. It's good to have the students or you summarize the discussion once it is done. A recap is a good thing. Thanks!
Bringing of the scenarios as discussed in the courses into a real-life situation for comparison purposes stimulates the forum discussion environment as well as guides of the students through the process and stimulating Substantive responses to the forum posts.
In order to keep things moment throughout a form discussion is often very helpful to interject a
Dia or thought which of course is topical related but is essential to keep of the forum from becoming stalled and the students basically just rehashing of a point over and over. Often times though the form can actually be self-sustaining if you require the students to research the topical material and related to the particular concept or project they are developing.
