Structuring Communication to Build Online Communities

1. Structuring Communication to Build Online Communities _________________________________ Andrew N. Carpenter, Ph.D. Jon Eads, Ph.D. Ellen Manning, M.A., Ph.D. Melinda M. Roberts, Ph.D. Kara VanDam, M.A.

2. Building Community Online • Community and cohesion are not spontaneous occurrences • Each part of an online course must be structured to create a cohesive online community

3. Five Approaches to Building Community • Structuring small group interactions in distance education (SSG) • Breaking down the barriers of student isolation (BSI) • Using real-time tools to build community (RBC) • Structuring discussions that promote mastery of content while fostering community (SDFC) • Empowering student communication through anonymity (ECA)

4. Structuring Small Group Interactions in Distance Education • Pedagogical Advantages • Major Challenges • Best Practices SSG

5. Pedagogical Advantages • Richly-structured and expertly-facilitated group work provides students with challenges and skill-building opportunities not found in other on-line learning activities. • There are significant academic benefits and direct benefits in adult students’ professional lives. SSG

6. First Area of Concern: Design Major Challenges: • Creating a rich-structure • Identifying team-roles • Providing effective student instructions • Providing effective faculty instructions SSG

7. Challenge: Creating Structure • Online small-group learning activities need a rich structure that provides students with meaningful challenges and skill-building activities. • Every aspect of the group learning activity needs to be planned to be cohesive. SSG

8. Challenge: Team Roles • Small groups need to be organized around a well-defined set of team roles, each: • associated with a set of clear and appropriate responsibilities • suitable for a diversity of student skills, interests, and time availability • contributing to the team effort and yet • having meaningful independent implementation. SSG

9. Challenge: Student Instructions • Clear explanation of the group’s task and roles: • inspires students to work hard • alleviates the anxiety about group work • Extensive logistical support: • informs students of when, what, and how to contribute to the team’s success • provides a procedure to follow when problems arise. SSG

10. Second Area of Concern: Facilitation Major Challenges: • Establishing grading standards • Managing group membership • Promoting responsible group behavior • Managing student anxiety and frustration • Promoting deep reflection SSG

11. Challenge: Grading Standards • How does one: • strike an effective balance between evaluating individual and collective performance? • grade “free riders” who contribute little to a successful team effort? • assign grades when a team member “drops the ball” and makes others work harder or fail to complete its task? SSG

12. Challenge: Group Membership • Should groups be assigned randomly or on the basis of specific criteria? • How should one handle adds or drops in the middle of a group project? • If a course has multiple small group learning activities, should group membership vary? • Are membership changes effective means to resolve intra-group conflict or to manage unequal achievement between groups? SSG

13. Challenge: Promoting Responsible Behavior • How can an instructor best manage conflicts within a group? • To what extent should an instructor actively manage the tone, content, and pacing of each group’s interactions? • What policies, instructions, or interventions best serve to encourage groups to work on a sequence of tasks in a timely manner? SSG

14. Challenge: Student Anxiety and Frustration • What can an instructor do to: • alleviate anxiety that most students feel about group work? • respond to frustration expressed by conscientious students about team members who do little work? • manage guilt felt by students who let their team down? SSG

15. Challenge: Promoting Deep Reflection • What can an instructor do to: • help students learn from the problems and failures that arise in the group? • promote reflection on the relevance of the small-group interaction to students’ professional lives? • help students perceive group work as an opportunity to hone conflict resolution and interpersonal skills? SSG

16. Challenge: Faculty Instructions • Facilitating group projects is difficult, so an on-line learning activity needs to: • include incisive and extremely clear explanations of the activity’s pedagogical design. • (if designed for others) provide best practices for overcoming common problems. SSG

17. Best Practices • Handout contains practices used in a mid-level Ethics class at Kaplan University • This course has four two-week units: • First week is small-group discussion of a case study • Second week is big group discussion of small groups’ reports. • Handout addresses group project evaluation, team roles, student instructions, faculty instructions. SSG

18. Breaking Down the Barriers of Student Isolation No Man is an Island, entire of itself… John Donne (1624). Devotions • Everyone has a need for meaningful communication • It is easy to feel isolated, especially in the online community • We need to go beyond the barriers of space and create a sense of unity and teamwork BSI

19. Need to “Think out of the Box” • Develop new techniques to create a sense of unity and teamwork • Encourage communication beyond the classroom • Set up smaller learning groups • Use peer partnering as much as possible BSI

20. Apply NCTE’s Assumptions about Learners and Teachers • Every person is a learner. • Teachers and students are a community of learners. • Learners are aware of the uniqueness of each other's backgrounds, and value this uniqueness. • The community of learners values experience as the stimulus for growth and change. BSI

21. NCTE’s Assumptions (cont’d) • The classroom is an extended community. • The classroom setting contributes to the climate of the learning • Knowing is active and ongoing, a process of interactive learning. • Knowledge is more than a mastery of facts and processes • National Council of Teachers of English, Working Paper Developed by the Elementary, Secondary, and College Sections, 1988-89, for Planning and Articulation by Council Constituencies BSI

22. Best Practices • Set up a Coffee/Tea House for anytime chats (asynchronous) • Set up smaller group (by major, geographical location, profession) discussion areas • Exchange AIM addresses to continue the communication • Set up a place of rest and relaxation; add positive affirmations, quotes • Encourage participation – you participate as well BSI

23. Sample Coffee/Tea House Posting I hope your father-in-law's recovery is swift and that your children get well soon. Prioritizing is what we humans have to do.  […] Enjoy your family and be there for them.  I have come to realize how temporary my children really are lately as they prepare for college now.  Before we know it our children fly from the nest and when they do, we hope their hearts are filled with memories of love and caring.  […] Be there for them now, so they can take it with them in their hearts forever. Get some rest and we'll all be waiting for you! BSI

24. Sample Response You have a beautiful and warm heart, I can just tell by your words! You actually brought me to a new realization about my children and for that I thank you. You are so right, I am working on some stuff for school now and hope to get some of it submitted tonight and by tomorrow night the rest of it. UGH! It has been stressful around here to say the least. Thank you so much for your support -- it really means a lot! Thanks also for a new lesson in life, BSI

25. The Result • Both students developed an online friendship and support group that continues to this day • Our students are more than just numbers and names on a roster. They are human beings who need to share a human experience while in an educational setting. BSI

26. Real-time Tools for Building Community • Social Isolation in Distance Learning • Live component in distance learning may help overcome isolation and increase student satisfaction. • Bullen (2003) found that isolation was one of the biggest causes for students dropping out of an online program *Bullen, M. (2003). E-learning emergency, CGA Magazine. 37 (4) 14-16 RBC

27. Synchronicity • Kaplan University uses a weekly seminar “real time” chat and live office hours • Promotes real understanding and “active” learning • Improves student learning • Bridges students and combats feelings of isolation • Increases student satisfaction RBC

28. Benefits to Students • For students in the online environment • Students can collaborate on projects or work in groups • Instructors can use live chat to hold virtual office hours • Tutors can provide one-on-one instruction RBC

29. Benefits to Faculty and Staff • Idea sharing and brain storming • Course content review • Training purposes • Presentations and Conferences • Bridge distance learning faculty and staff: Develop cohort groups of online communities RBC

30. Technology • Two-way audio • Direct messaging • Live Webcam • Application sharing • Interactive whiteboards • Breakout rooms RBC

31. Free Tools • AOL Instant Messenger • Yahoo groups • MSN Chat • Net Meeting RBC

32. A Real Advantage Real-time tools can take the essence of face-to-face learning and apply it to distance learning. RBC

33. Structuring Discussions that Promote Mastery of Content while Fostering Community Online or in a traditional classroom, there are subjects students: • dread taking • have never had a positive experience with SDFC

34. The Solution Creating well-written discussion questions builds a positive support network that gives students a better opportunity to master course concepts. SDFC

35. Context • Students often: • Dread math courses • Are unsure how to be successful in the course • Have never had a positive experience • Feel alone in their insecurities • Need additional support and encouragement to overcome challenges SDFC

36. How do you address these concerns and issues? • Structure discussion questions that enable students to naturally share these difficulties and provide support to each other. • Structure discussion questions that enable the instructor to encourage and support students. SDFC

37. Sample Discussion Question • Post a problem from the Lesson practice problems that you found challenging. State both the page and problem number. • If you were able to solve the problem, share the strategy you used to find the correct answer. • If you were unable to solve it, share approaches you used and how far you were able to proceed. SDFC

38. Student Posts • Initial response to this question by a student (two choices): • Student has successfully solved a problem. She clearly posts the solution and steps to get the solution. • Student posts where he is stuck with a problem. This still allows the student to get full credit. SDFC

39. Student Responses • A student responds to another student by: • Thanking the student for posting the steps to a problem that she was stuck on. • Encouraging the student to stick with it. • Affirming that she is stuck on the same concept. • Identifying the next step and working through the rest of the problem. SDFC

40. Instructor Responses • Instructor also has been given an “easy in” with a well-written discussion question. • Instructor responses can: • Encourage • Affirm • Validate • Correct and expand SDFC

41. Summary • Well-written discussion questions: • Build a positive support network • Promote mastery of the content • Enrich the classroom experience of students and faculty • Provide opportunities for both students and faculty to easily interact SDFC

42. Empowering Student Communication through Anonymity Students and faculty new to online education often see anonymity as a barrier to making meaningful connections ECA

43. Anonymity Can: • On the contrary, anonymity: • Breaks down psychological barriers • Improves student learning • Eliminates many traditional classroom barriers • Improves teacher collaboration ECA

44. How Does It Break Down Barriers for Students? • Requires active participation • Provides a sense of protection from rejection • Encourages students to take risks they might not take in a traditional classroom ECA

45. How Does It Break Down Barriers for Faculty? • Removes competitiveness found in many institutions, replacing it with collaboration • Provides a sense of protection from rejection • Encourages faculty to take risks they might not take in a traditional classroom ECA

46. In Traditional Classrooms, Students and Teachers are Pre-judged RACE SEX ETHNICITY PHYSICAL ABILITY AGE NATIVE LANGUAGE WEIGHT, CLOTHING HAIR COLOR ECA

47. Online Learning Removes Barriers • In the online classroom, those cues are gone • Students and faculty are judged on the quality of their work alone • Capitalizing on this anonymity can foster vibrant student discussions and increase student learning ECA

48. Take-away Points • Online interactions are most effective when structured consciously and deliberately • Pitfalls can be avoided through careful planning • Vibrant communities support student success

49. Contact Information • Andrew N. Carpenter, Ph.D.,acarpenter@kaplan.edu • Jon Eads, Ph.D.,jeads@kaplan.edu • Ellen Manning, M.A., Ph.D.,emanning@kaplan.edu • Melinda M. Roberts, Ph.D.,mroberts@kaplan.edu • Kara VanDam, M.A.,kvandam@kaplan.edu