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September 1, 2014
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Jean Mandernach
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Talking Techne- Techniques to Establish an Active Online Discussion Forum - Stephanie Maher Palenque & Meredith DeCosta.docx
Discussion forums are critically important to the online classroom, as they virtually take the place of a classroom discussion, and become a stage on which active learning takes place. Active learning occurs when instructors practice certain techniques in the discussion that are carefully and thoughtfully crafted and guided. The authors propose the term “techne” to describe the specific tools and
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4 Comments
Stephanie and Meredith,
I've enjoyed reading your article and think you have some interesting, innovative ideas about engaging students in online discussion forums. I am curious how this works from a time management perspective. With numerous deadlines and responsibilities many online instructors face, how does one effectively take time to, for example, acknowledge all students in the forums individually while still meeting expectations? I know some activities take less time than others but are just as meaningful as activities taking a signficant amount of time, but I think it may be helpful to your audience to discuss this issue more in depth.
Nice work!
Thanks,
Victoria Smith
Hello, Victoria
Thank you for taking the time to review our article. As online instructors we are already monitoring and responding to posts in all discussion forums. We suggest that instructors are conscious of evenly distributing "personal touches" within each forum to ensure that no student's contribution is overlooked. Rather than being a "numbers game," it is about mindfulness when responding to students in each forum. Often, these connections with students take mere seconds, but can make a world of difference in the effectiveness of our instruction in the classroom.
Thank you for your comments and suggestion!
Stephanie
Thank you for challenging me to see discussion forums as a way of being creative and engaging. Knowing when to lead and when to be led opened my eyes to being sensitive to those students/learners who are providing solid and accurate information and promoting critical thinking. The personal touch as you pointed out in your reply sure goes a long way! Thank you for your research and quality information.
Good job!
Blessings,
DPM
DPM,
Thank you for your comments! They are much appreciated.
Best,
Meredith