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Revamping the Tired Discussion Board. Corinne Hyde, Ed.D . Brandon Martinez, Ed.D . Kimberly Ferrario , Ph.D. Why use discussion boards (now)? . Asynchronous learning Build background knowledge prior to class time Have students grapple with concepts prior to class time
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Revamping the Tired Discussion Board Corinne Hyde, Ed.D. Brandon Martinez, Ed.D. Kimberly Ferrario, Ph.D.
Why use discussion boards (now)? • Asynchronous learning • Build background knowledge prior to class time • Have students grapple with concepts prior to class time • Accountability for doing the readings • Evaluation- do students understand concepts?
What do discussion boards usually look like? • Text based • Threaded • One or two discussion questions - students all answer the same questions • Students will respond if required to, but rarely otherwise • When students do respond to each other they tend to state their agreement
What would we like to be able to do with discussion boards? • dynamic • multimedia • open ended • connected to the world • relevant outside the classroom
What we did: • part of Open Course Redesign Model • continuous course redesign cycle • student and instructor feedback - discussion boards are boring to read, tedious to grade • looked for ways to incorporate Web 2.0 tools • increase engagement • connections with student interests • open ended • teaches more than one thing (content and technology) • wiki-esque model
What the discussion board assignment looks like now • Involves students finding resources from around the web • Involves students making connections between theory and these resources • Can function within any discussion board system you’re already using • zero cost
What people are saying: • Students: • More interesting posts • desire to read others’ posts • finding new resources • Faculty • Easier to grade • More interesting to read • Finding new resources to share with future classes • Students make connections with shared resources we didn’t even know existed • Students now reference others’ posts in class more often.
Voicethread benefits • multimedia commenting • ease of use for students • ease of grading for faculty • visually appealing
Voicethread drawbacks • no threaded conversations • cannot direct responses (tag) to certain individuals • when given the option, students will default to using text instead of multimedia commenting tools.
Recommendations for revamping your discussion boards • Keep the rigor • Add choice • Add multimedia options • Encourage the use of Web 2.0 tools • Be willing to consider “odd” sources • Steal what your students share - it will make your teaching more relevant!