Asynchronous Threaded Discussions Threaded discussions can serve as a learning tool that fosters in-depth, academic discussion, an arena in which students work collaboratively or conduct peer analysis, or simply a place where they can virtually communicate with each other. Threaded discussion used well can be an effective learning tool that encourages students to engage in higher order thinking activities. Discussion forums encourage: • Active learning • Responsibility and reflection • Negotiation of meaning for content and ideas • Broadening of personal knowledge bases • Deeper information processing • Student ownership of work • Trust and self-disclosure • Sense of community Most online courses rely heavily on threaded or asynchronous discussions to enable interaction among students. However, an online discussion is very different from an in-class discussion and requires more prior planning. Creating good questions is one of the most important factors in designing successful threaded discussions. The following are some question possibilities. •
The open-ended question: Ask for the how’s and the why’s instead of the what’s.
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The controversial question: That the unpopular stand and get your students riled up.
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The “naiveté” question: Ask the “dumb” question to get your students talking.
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The “synthesizer” question: Draw from related reading materials, asking your students to determine what “person A” would have to say about “Person B” because of “C”.
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The peer facilitator question: Have the students sign up for a facilitation week and give each student responsibility for addressing a major point/topical question, soliciting input from their peers, and posting a summary of the discussion at the end of the week.
Another important factor is keeping the discussions on topic. The following suggestions can assist in accomplishing this goal. •
Creating well-designed questions that keep students topic focused (see question possibilities noted above.)
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Revise threaded discussion questions when responses are off-target. If a question is not working well and students are confused, change it immediately and send out an email to students regarding the change o post a new thread with the revised question and associated questions.
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Provide an informal threaded discussion elsewhere in the course. This can be a good place for students to post non- content related questions or to socialize online.
How to use discussions in different ways: Facilitating Collaboration
Whether your goal is to have students collaborate on a project, problem, case study, or studying for a test, these designs provide templates for related discussions. If your instructional goal for discussions is to foster generation of new ideas, reflection, peer mentoring, and group skills, then design discussions linked to collaborative activities. • Case Studies: This is especially useful for problem-based learning that relates course concepts and principles to real-life cases. • Collaborative Test Preparation: This type of group activity achieves the following goals: • Promotes a sense of community • Facilitates critical thinking • Can give insight into a learner's assimilation of new information • Group Projects • Problem-based Learning: If you are using PBL as the main approach for the activities in your course, the following are types of discussion activities that need to occur in the class groups: • Defining the problem: Identifying the main issues, ideas, and constraints of the problem. • Developing/evaluating alternative solutions: Discuss and negotiate the different critical issues, evidence, advantages, and disadvantages of each possible solution. • Resolution: Choose one solution as optimal and support this choice. • Develop the action plan: Based on the solution, create the deliverable (paper, presentation, Web page) for completion of the PBL assignment. • Reflection: Debrief the problem-solving process of the group in terms of its effectiveness and what was learned. Elaboration of Ideas Lectures and reading assignments in face-to-face classrooms are often followed by discussions that build on the ideas, concepts, and issues presented. How do you know that your online learners are making the kinds of connections and knowledge integration you hope for with their assignments? In traditional face-to-face classes, there is too little time and often too many students for you to check everyone's misconceptions or applications of the content until the test or evaluation. This is where asynchronous threaded discussions can really help you provide opportunities for each student to demonstrate the depth and understanding of new knowledge, as well as test that knowledge with that of other students. Creating Social Support One of the criticisms of online courses is that there are no after-class opportunities for learners to get to know each other and talk 'off-task'. Except for requiring self-introductions (a must in an online course and a time-saver in a Web-enhanced course), these spaces can be made available for students to interact in ways they might in traditional face-to-face encounters. These types of discussion spaces do not require much in terms of moderation, since participation is voluntary, but an occasional looking-over is a good idea nonetheless. • Coffeehouse/Student Lounge/Student Commons/Cafe: No matter what you call this discussion area, it is a virtual space where students can just 'drop by' and leave a note, express an opinion, or share a non-academic experience. • Self-Introductions: It is important to model a sample introduction here and to be clear about the information you would like the students to share. • Technical Assistance: Students can ask for help here from other students. Otherwise, be sure to put links to technical assistance resources throughout your course. • In the Hall: These can be the kind of messages or conversations students share in the halls before class. Sections could include topics such as Humor, Movies, Restaurants, etc. Students should be able to begin their own topics without your assistance.
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After Class: This section would be devoted to questions about the information, assignments, and content that was covered. Postings might include questions concerning clarification of ideas and meanings. Before the Test: If you do not set up collaborative test preparation group discussions, then you might create a discussion section for students to ask each other questions before an exam or test.
Providing Feedback Discussions can also be designed for feedback opportunities on individual and group assignments or project work. Class discussion spaces make excellent venues for providing different kinds of feedback to the instructor and among learners. • Posting Individual or Group Work: Depending on the assignment, peer feedback discussion spaces can be set up to provide a public forum for student work. Again, it is important to provide some kind of model for students to follow when giving feedback to ensure it is effective. • Class Suggestion Box: This discussion area would be for informal suggestions and ideas from learners that would make the course more learner-friendly. For example, these could be postings related to clarity of instructions, graphic interface and usability of course site, or readability and design of content pages. • Formative Feedback: This discussion area would be a more formal way for you to get the same kind of ongoing feedback that was discussed above. Encourage suggestions with direct questions and allow groups to post responses to help with anonymity. The online format may help other concerns surface that might have remained hidden otherwise.