Module  6: Dimensions of Interaction

Create an asynchronous video reflection applying what you have learned about making good videos for online communication and write a journal reflection to apply what you have learned about synchronous and asynchronous communications. 

Sometimes teachers don’t see a need to communicate online if students have the opportunity to do so in-person. However, there are advantages and disadvantages to both in-person and online communication. Take a moment to look at the photo of a whole-class discussion above. What do you notice? Perhaps the first thing that you noticed was that several students were raising their hands. Clearly these students are excited to participate! Whatever is being discussed engaged many in the class. That can be a great feeling as a teacher. In-person discussions tend to be fast-paced and dynamic, where you can quickly and easily keep the discussion flowing by asking and answering questions.

A closer examination of the students in the above photo can highlight some common limitations of in-class discussions. First, notice at least three of the hand-raisers are using their other arm to prop up the raised arm. It’s likely that they have been raising their hands for some time and have yet to be called on. Time is a major limitation of in-person interaction. Given the bell schedule, time for a robust discussion is limited and not every student gets to participate at the level they’d wish to. Also, it can be common for some students to dominate the conversation, which further limits the available time for others. Obviously, this photo is only a moment in time, and we don’t want to read too much into it, but it highlights some other drawbacks to in-person discussions. Notice that some students seem to have disengaged from the discussion. It could be that some of those students were raising their hands earlier and gave up after not being called on. Others may be more introverted and may not feel comfortable sharing their ideas in front of the whole class. It’s also possible that the discussion was going too fast or too slow to maintain their attention. Furthermore, some students, for example, those who may be English Language Learners, could be unable to process what is being said or formulate comments fast enough to participate. Other students may have special needs that make participating in in-person discussions especially challenging. Some of these challenges might be alleviated by creating smaller groups of students to increase student participation but doing so makes it difficult to monitor each group’s discussion.

If teachers only engage students using in-person discussions, time, timidity, difficulties with the language, and other classroom dynamics may not allow all students the opportunity to fully express their thoughts. In the blended classroom, there are many options for increasing and enhancing communication. Online discussions can be one way to address participation concerns within the in-person setting. The challenge is leveraging the advantages of both in-person and online interaction and figuring out strategies for how to capitalize on the best of both worlds.

You will be reading and viewing materials regarding in-person and online interactions. When you are finished you will need to complete your copy of the table below found in this document. Be sure to share your copy of the document with jeredborup@gmail.com. 

You should include information from most of the materials--especially the readings.  In your notes on the table, please include simple citations to the articles by placing the author(s) last name and the publication year in parentheses at the end of the statement (author, year). DON'T FORGET CITATIONS. 

After you've completed the text reflection, you will also create a video reflection (about 4-6 minutes).  Rather than typing out your entry, you will create a video recording of yourself answering the following questions:  

• What has been your experience communicating with students or parents online?  

• Do your students ever communicate with each other online? If so, can you describe a typical activity and what tool they use? 

• What were your main takeaways from this module's readings and how do you plan on applying them to your teaching? 

• NOTE: If your video is getting too long you can respond to one or more of the questions using text underneath where you place the link to your video in the Google Doc. It's amazing how quickly 6 minutes can go! It's also "about 4-6 minutes" so it's okay if you need to go over six minutes.

One of the important aspects of blended learning is for the teacher to decide when and how to leverage the advantages of one form of communication over another. While some classroom discussions will be better suited for in-person dialogue, others can allow additional flexibility in time, place, and depth of reflection in an online, asynchronous setting. It is therefore important to understand the strengths and limitations of each form of interaction and how each can be used to benefit overall student learning.

Please start your exploration by watching the following short video to become familiar with the different dimensions of interaction.