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Online Forum Discussion. Presented by Dr. Chan Chang Tik. Findings from Last Year Study. Only 16.5% (n = 14) of the students agreed that online forum discussion is time consuming. We have 55.3% (n = 47) of them agreed that the choice of forum topic is important.
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Online Forum Discussion Presented by Dr. Chan Chang Tik
Findings from Last Year Study • Only 16.5% (n = 14) of the students agreed that online forum discussion is time consuming. • We have 55.3% (n = 47) of them agreed that the choice of forum topic is important. • Example: How do you recognise a compound sentence? Technical Training and Seminar Series
Findings from Last Year Study (2) • Lecturers’ role in keeping online discussion alive, 65.9% (n = 56) of the students believed that lecturers have more to do to support online discussion. • Students’ wrong perception – cognitive strategy versus constructivist strategy Technical Training and Seminar Series
Findings from Last Year Study (3) • Technical support for the learning management system (INTI Online), 47.6% (n = 39) of the students believed that INTI Online was not suitable for forum discussion. • A study was conducted on the accessibility of INTI Online and a report was submitted to INSO. • Extreme Broadband was appointed. Technical Training and Seminar Series
Contents • Why online discussion? • Topics to discuss • Alamak! Few responses • How to sustain the momentum? • Technical aspects • Reading materials Technical Training and Seminar Series
Why Online Discussion? • Why do I need an online discussion when I can conduct a face-to-face discussion in the class? • According to Lazenby (2003) most lecturers put emphasizes on lecturing and testing, instead of facilitating students to construct the knowledge collaboratively. • The main advantage of online discussion is the element of collaboration. Technical Training and Seminar Series
Why Online Discussion? (2) • Students learn how to construct knowledge from the information provided by their peers. • Where to look for more information and to classify them. • The online platform gives them a chance to reflect on their thought, gather and organize their ideas before presenting them in the forum. Technical Training and Seminar Series
Why Online Discussion? (3) • Research has shown that there is a higher degree of collaboration in an online discussion compared to a face-to-face discussion. • Using e-learning is not only to create an anywhere, anytime learning environment, but also to create an interactive and collaborative learning environment (Woodill, 2004 and Cummings, Book & Jacobs, 2002). Technical Training and Seminar Series
Why Online Discussion? (4) • Recap • Collaboration • Construct knowledge • Look for information • Reflection • Interactive and collaborative learning environment Technical Training and Seminar Series
Topics to Discuss • Academic topics • FOBA • If you have to pay 30¢ more for a plate of fried noodle because petrol price went up 30¢ per liter, would you complaint? • The share markets in South East Asia including China have gone up substantially, is it a good news? Technical Training and Seminar Series
Topics to Discuss (2) • FOLA • Suggest ways and means to make students speak proper English. • What are the causes of Johore floods? • David Beckham decision to go to the United States is to make Americans love football and not for financial gain, do you agree? Technical Training and Seminar Series
Topics to Discuss (3) • Academic topics • FAS • Imagine your car running on cooking oil. What are the consequences? • China managed to shoot down a weather satellite, mathematically speaking how is it possible? • You are trying your luck at Genting casino playing roulette, what are the odds against you? Technical Training and Seminar Series
Topics to Discuss (4) • FOCIT • Virus either biological or mechanical, is destructive. How would you fight it? • FOEAT • Petronas Twin Tower is the pride of the nation. If there is a earth tremor how save are you on the Sky Bridge? Technical Training and Seminar Series
Activity 1 • Tell us your forum topic. • Comments from the participants. Time: 20 minutes Technical Training and Seminar Series
Topics to Discuss (5) • You can also ask your students to read articles from the Internet and discuss in the forum. • Your students can even discuss their assignment answers in the forum. • You can also include your tutorial questions for discussion. Technical Training and Seminar Series
Topics to Discuss (6) • For a start, we should pick interesting topics that relate to the students. Choose current and hot topics. • Avoid sensitive topics like religion and politic. • Award them marks for the online discussion (optional). Technical Training and Seminar Series
Few responses • Avoid the temptation to jump in with public praise for the first few postings. • Adopt a stance of “sitting on ones’ hands”. Waiting avoids curtailing peer conversation and invites additional participation (Rowe, 1969). Technical Training and Seminar Series
Few Responses (2) • Send private email (“Bravo Mike, thanks for your willingness to jump right in.”) to early contributors can encourage active participation. Email should be sent to late starters too. • E-instructor should demonstrate that he is reading students postings by providing regular and private feedback. • Respond immediately to technical questions or queries about what to do. Technical Training and Seminar Series
Few Responses (3) • If there is no response at all for a day or two, post an encouraging note to the forum at the same time refrain from nagging or invoking feelings of guilt over presumed poor performance. Hey everyone, it’s been an especially busy week for me, and it looks like for you too. I was just reviewing the tasks assigned and altogether it can look like a lot! I’m looking forward to hearing what you’ve discovered so far. Even if you aren’t quite finished, please do let us know your initial thoughts. Technical Training and Seminar Series
Few Responses (4) • Recap • Do not jump in too soon • Send private emails • Respond to technical problems • Post encouraging notes in the forum Technical Training and Seminar Series
Sustain Momentum • When the participants are either avoiding learning objectives or straying off-course, you should not jump in and say something like “You’re headed in the wrong direction …” it can be a jarring interruption. • You can use a generative guide which serve as an indirect intervention to regain the initial target of the dialogue. Technical Training and Seminar Series
Sustain Momentum (2) • A generative guide begins by engaging readers with a few key phrases excerpted from initial comments: • Mary is concerned the readings don’t address … • Mark would prefer the authors had said more about … • Recognizing there are obstacles to be contended with, you comments call for … • A generative guide identifying direction points students where to head for more fruitful engagement with the content. Technical Training and Seminar Series
Sustain Momentum (3) • Another quandary is “What should I do with dialogues that are overwhelmed with postings though lacking in focus?” • You can use a reflective guide that mirrors the best insights and organizes the rich brainstorms into a few salient categories. Technical Training and Seminar Series
Sustain Momentum (4) • An example of a reflective guide: I agree with Megan that this has been a great discussion so far. Lee mentioned listening … reverberate throughout your postings here. It got me thinking a bit … what strategies can be used …? Technical Training and Seminar Series
Sustain Momentum (5) • Is it pedagogically sound for you to make summary near the end of a dialogue activity? • Learning opportunities are missed when summaries make the thinking sound completed. • You should set up a platform that highlights intriguing tensions and honours conflicting perspective to encourage further discovery and insight. Technical Training and Seminar Series
Sustain Momentum (6) • Techniques of questioning is one of the strategies that can serve to deepen a developing dialogue: • “So what?” • Clarification of meaning • Exploration of assumptions • Identification of causes and effects • Questions that consider appropriate action Give examples Technical Training and Seminar Series
Sustain Momentum (7) • Tone of your voice in the forum can have an impact on further dialogue when crafting intervention. • Tones that are guiding rather than leading sound neutral or genuinely seeking clarity. • Examples of guiding tones are: • “I was intrigued …” • “Mary’s comment got me thinking …” • “John’s idea that … made me wonder …” Technical Training and Seminar Series
Sustain Momentum (8) • Leading tones can have a teacher-on-centre-stage ring in it. For examples: • “I loved that Anne said …” • “Great comment, John! Thanks for pointing out …” • Public evaluations of individuals’ contributions serve to suggest the answer the instructor seeks has been expressed. Further dialogue may be deterred with such messages. Technical Training and Seminar Series
Sustain Momentum (9) • Regular, constructive private feedback can extend collaborative dialogue (Haavind, 2004). • Both acknowledgement of thoughtful contributions and explicit suggestions of ways to incite collaborative exchange are useful. Technical Training and Seminar Series
Sustain Momentum (10) • Examples of private feedback are: • “cite peers more often or more carefully” • “identify themes in peers’ postings” • “ask questions along with contributing ideas” Technical Training and Seminar Series
Sustain Momentum (11) • Recap • Off course use generative guide to identify direction • Lacking in focus use reflective guide • Summary • Techniques of questioning • Tone of your voice – guiding or leading • Public evaluation • Regular constructive private feedback Technical Training and Seminar Series
It is a private forum among you and your students. You have the choice to open the forum to all the students from different sections in a class or to limited number of students. The forum postings will appear in the ‘Class Specific Forum’ in the Home Centre page. Students not included in the list are locked out in this forum. Technical Aspects Technical Training and Seminar Series
To Post a Topic • How to post a topic (lecturer)? Technical Training and Seminar Series
To Post a Topic (2) Technical Training and Seminar Series
To Post a Topic (3) Technical Training and Seminar Series
To Post a Topic (4) Technical Training and Seminar Series
To Post a Topic (5) Technical Training and Seminar Series
To Post a Topic (6) Technical Training and Seminar Series
To Respond to a Topic • How to respond to a topic (student)? First Method Technical Training and Seminar Series
To Respond to a Topic (2) First Method Technical Training and Seminar Series
To Respond to a Topic (3) Second Method Technical Training and Seminar Series
To Respond to a Topic (4) Technical Training and Seminar Series
To Email your Students Technical Training and Seminar Series
Email Students (2) Technical Training and Seminar Series
Email Students (3) Technical Training and Seminar Series
Reading Materials • Blended Learning: Impacting Student Learning and Learning Style Through Integrating Web-Enhanced Course Components • Weaving Together Online and Face-to-face Learning: A Design from a Community of Practice Perspective • Teaching Online and In-Class Technical Training and Seminar Series
Thank you Technical Training and Seminar Series