Two of the significant challenges online faculty face are promoting critical thinking amongst our students and developing dialogue within the discussion forums. The online environment poses certain issues toward achieving both goals. We lack the face-to-face communication and repertoire often required to help students extend their thinking to the critical thinking realm, and the asynchronous modality of communications does not intrinsically promote in-depth and thoughtful dialogue. The ability to overcome both these issues reset on the instructors skill to overcome the issues inherent in the online system and use various teaching strategies to make the system work to the advantage of both the faculty and the student.

Perhaps the most advantageous aspects of the asynchronous communication modality is the ability of participants to delay their response to questions. Although face-to-face communication often demands immediate responses, as not wishing to appear apathetic or morose, the asynchronous model allows students time to develop, debate, and refine their answers before posting them. This requires, however, that faculty prompt their students by delivering communication in which critical thinking and dialogue are natural outcomes.

Asking salient questions, questions that pique a student's interest, can be one of the most effective ways to help encourage critical thinking and dialogue. Liu, Magjuka, Bonk, and Lee (2007) noted that asking open-ended questions whereby students can expand their thoughts is an effective strategy. As most qualitative researchers know, allowing the participants, in this case students, space to develop their answers can produce far richer responses. Playing the Devils' Advocate, a personal favorite of mine, can also help students to thinking critically, and extend the length of the interaction (Maddix, 2012). By playing Devils' Advocate, faculty can prompt students to defend their thoughts, often by applying real-world examples or doing further research, to help give their posts increase legitimacy. Jackson, Jones, and Rodriguez (2012) indicated questions focused on upper-levels of  Bloom's taxonomy encourage students to think critically, which in turn expands communication amongst students and between students and the instructor. 

The crucial point is instructors should use questions, quality questions, to help prompt critical thinking in their students and create a milieu in which dialogue is welcomed and encouraged. By asking the right type of questions, faculty can overcome any of the disadvantages inherent in the online setting and use the unique characteristics of the modality to their advantage.

Thanks,

Eric Nordin

Reference:

Jackson, L. C., Jones, S. J., & Rodriguez, R. C. (2012). Faculty actions that result in student satisfaction in online courses. Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, 14, 78-95. Retrieved from http://sloanconsortium.org/publications/jaln_main

Liu, X., Magjuka, R. J., Bonk, C. J., & Lee, S. (2007). Does sense of community matter? An examination of participants' perceptions of building online leaning communities in online courses. The Quarterly Review of Distance Education, 8(1), 9-24. Retrieved from http://www.infoagepub.com/quarterly-review-of-distance-education.html

Maddix, M. (2012). Generating and facilitating effective online learning through discussion. Christian Education Journal, 9, 372-385. Retrieved from http://journals.biola.edu/cej