Required Resource: Book Excerpt: E-Learning by Design
(Horton, W., Designing for the Virtual Classroom, E-Learning by Design). Copyright 2006 John Wiley & Sons Inc. Used with permission from John Wiley & Sons Inc. via the Copyright Clearance Center.
Chapter 9, "Design for the Virtual Classroom" (pp. 463–471)
Keeping discussion forums productive requires a moderator – someone to oversee the discussions and makes comments as necessary to keep the discussions focused and fruitful.
For the purposes of the exercise, assume that you are the instructor moderating the discussion forum for an online class. Below are two scenarios. Please post your response to both scenarios in the comments (no later than midnight on Friday 8/13 please).
Scenario #1: Keeping the Discussion Lively -
The instructional designer for the course has provided a bland discussion prompt for this week. The students' initial postings for this week are generally uninspired and show minimal critical thinking. As the moderator, how would you respond to the initial postings? What techniques might you use to liven up the discussion?
Give at least one sample response along with the rationale for your response.
Scenario#2: Responding to Inappropriate Postings - Upon reviewing the previous days postings, you notice that one of the students (let's call him Jack A.) has responded harshly to another student's post. Jack A. is not attacking the message, but the messenger, directing some personal insults and name calling to one of his fellow students.
Describe how you would confront Jack A. about this behavior and the reasoning behind your approach.
My response to scenario 2#.
ReplyDeleteAccording to Pallof and Pratt (2011), students are disruptive or make inappropriate posts should not be reprimanded in front of others but handled discreetly. In the case of Jack A (lol... I just that), I would email him to let him know that whatever the reason, this type of behavior is unacceptable and will not be further tolerated. I then ask Jack A to post or email an apology to the student that was offended. In addition to erasing the offensive post, I would refer all of the students to my discussion guidelines and to those of the institution.
References
Pallof, R. & Pratt, K . (2011). Assessing Interaction and Collaboration in Online Environments [Video].
Yolanda,
ReplyDeleteI appreciate you responding to my post.
I agree with all of your suggestions. The only thing I would add is that is critical to respond to Jack A.’s inappropriate post in a timely fashion, preferably with 12 to 24 hours. I also like you suggestion to post a reminder of the discussion policy. It is subtle reminder of what is expected and what will not be tolerated.
Stephen
I have been having issues using this site and I posted my response but I don't see it listed up here. Did you receive it? I also responded to Rudy's and he said he received it as an email. Did you receive it as an email as well?
ReplyDeleteMelisa,
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure what the issue is. I did not see any prior posts from you (either as a blog comment or an email). However, your comment at 5:17 PM is clearly visible.
You would please try posting your comments again?
If that fails, you can email your comments to my Walden email.
Stephen