Module 14: Quality Online Discussions

Identify and explain strategies and guidelines for improving teacher and student questioning. 

What did you think of the video above? Anyone? Anyone? Anyone?  What I find fascinating about that video is that Ben Stein--the actor playing the econ teacher---actually prepared great content and does a good job applying the Great Depression to current events.  The problem is his delivery and his questions.  I believe some well-thought-out questions would dramatically improve the lesson.  To apply the PICRAT framework from earlier, questions is one way that we can make passive learning more interactive. 

We read in a previous module that asking open-ended questions is an important part of listening.  Asking questions also allows teachers to push students to learn and think more critically.  However, most of the questions that teachers ask are duds. They don't have any benefit for students.  I would guess that the most asked question is, "Does that make sense?"  Even if the answer is a resounding "No!" most students will nod their heads and say "yes" because they don't want to look dumb. Another goal of asking quality questions is to get our students to be critical thinkers and ask quality questions themselves. 

Asynchronous discussions are particularly dependent on quality questions. In-person or synchronous-online discussions are easier to monitor because the teacher can change the question on the fly if students aren't responding the way the teacher expected. In contrast, it can take hours or even days before teachers know. Additionally, even when teachers realize that the question isn't generating the desired response, it is often too difficult or too late to adjust. As a result, when you are designing an asynchronous discussion activity it's important that you take the time to get it right. 

This week we will explore recommendations for asking questions and designing asynchronous discussions.  

A Side Tangent: While his lectures were awfully boring, Ben Stein could have been a good blended teacher. I took some time to edit his lecture and thought that it was pretty good (you can watch the video here). Those of you in EDIT 761, imagine if rather than lecturing to the entire class, he had short videos for students to watch in a flipped classroom, station rotation, or flex learning model. It could have been a really engaging class!

Required Readings 

While we are never sure if a new discussion prompt will result in the desired learning outcomes, if you follow the guidelines in the following resources you and your students are more likely to have a successful experience.   

• Read the section 5.3 Designing and Managing Online Discussions in the  Online Interaction chapter of K-12 Blended Teaching (vol 1). You can stop reading when you get to the heading "5.4 Blending Feedback." Note that Flip is no longer available but Padlet has video commenting that can be a good replacement. 

• Read Edutopia's blog post Blended Learning: Adding Asynchronous Discussions to your F2F Classrooms (This is also linked in the K-12 Blended Teaching chapter)

• Read pages 1-7 in University of Oregon's Teaching and Learning Center created a great resource called Generating and Facilitating Engaging and Effective Online Discussions. 

Reflections and Replies

A common activity in online courses is for students to read and/or view material, reflect on it, and then share their thoughts and related experiences. It's also common for instructors to require students to reply to a certain number of their peers' comments.

Round-Robin Reflections

Similar to reflections and replies, in round-robin reflections, students still read and/or view material, reflect on it, and then share their thoughts and related experiences. In addition, students ask a related question that they would like to know the answer to. The next person to post to the group then answers the previous person's question, shares their thoughts and related experiences, and asks a question. This continues until everyone has posted. The instructor might then choose to have the first person who posted return to and respond to the last person's question.

Debates

In many subject areas, debates are a common in-person classroom activity. With some preparation, these debates can also be done online with even more reflection and participation than is possible in person. Just as with in-person debates, the instructor should set the ground rules for communicating respectfully. The instructor can break down the online debate into the different phases and set deadlines for each phase. For instance, one day can be designated for opening statements. Other days could be designated for rebuttals. Lastly, students end the debate with closing statements on the last day.

Check-Ins and Updates

During longer projects or experiences such as practicums or internships, having students post regular updates helps instructors keep a pulse on students' progress. As a result, these updates hold students accountable for their activities even in the absence of a hard deadline. These check-ins also give students an opportunity to ask for assistance. Making these posts using video can help students maintain a sense of community.

Jigsaws

In a jigsaw activity, students are placed in a discussion group of about three to six students. Each student is tasked with learning a different aspect of the topic. As a result, in preparation for the discussion activity, each student is focusing on and exploring different materials. Each student then shares their learning with the rest of the group. This allows students to teach one another so that together everyone is able to form a full picture of the topic.

Peer Reviews

Instructors can use asynchronous video to provide feedback. Similarly, students can use video comments to provide their peers with feedback on projects. Students can share links to their project with a video comment describing their work. Students can then review the projects and provide feedback using either webcam or screencast recordings.

• When You Get Nothing But Crickets (article and podcast)

• What Productive Talk Looks Like in the Elementary Grades (article)

• Generating Effective Questions (article)

• The Six Types of Socratic Questions (article)

• Using questions to develop understanding (2:05 Video, LINK)