Online Discussions and How to Evaluate Them

If you are starting to dig a bit deeper into the Blackboard realm and its tools, you may be using the discussion feature. In a strictly online course, the ability to have students interact with each other in a discussion becomes all the more important, but the tool can still be useful for in-class courses.

Some of the challenges, however, with discussions are with organization and evaluation. It can be challenging to come up with discussion topics that students will actually want to engage with, not just because they have to. This is why a few of the recommendations in a recent Faculty Focus article on discussion boards were particularly helpful. For example, one great suggestion is to limit the group size. Apparently, smaller group discussions are more effective than larger groups. The suggestion in this case is to limit the group size to about ten people.

Developing rubrics for online discussions can also be a challenge, so I was really pleased to see that Gloria P. Craig, the generous author of the article, was kind enough to share the rubrics she uses for both undergraduate and graduate students. You can see the undergraduate example here: http://www.facultyfocus.com/wp-content/uploads/images/Figure-1-Analytic-Discussion-Forum-Grading-Rubric-for-Undergraduate-Students.pdf

And should you want to read the article in its entirety to see what other great tips you can pick up, you’ll find it here: http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/online-education/evaluating-discussion-forums-undergraduate-graduate-students

For a more comprehensive look at the idea of online discussions, should you be considering adding them to your courses, check out Cornell University’s page on the topic: http://www.cte.cornell.edu/teaching-ideas/teaching-with-technology/online-discussions.html

And closer to home, don’t forget about our talented and knowledgeable E-Learning specialists: Jamie Edwards and Carolle Boudreau.

Cell Phones in the Classroom

Before wading into this debate, I confess to having a cell phone that I’m glad to have and use daily. That being said, the use of cell phones in the classroom by students, without permission, drives me bananas! I guess I’m just old school, but I feel like there is a time and a place. I fail to see how one can really focus on classroom content when they are otherwise engaged, but maybe I’m just not that good at multitasking.

This week, Spark’s blog is also about the use of cell phones in class. The difference in this case is that the subject is addressed from a student’s perspective, which is why it’s interesting that Becca Cadue, the blog’s author, refers to cell phones as “our other appendage.” The statistics Cadue was able to dig up are nothing short of staggering: students spending ten hours a day on their cell phones, for example. To read more, you can find the post here: http://sparkslc.ca/students-and-their-cellphones/

Another article on the subject can be found on the Faculty Focus blog: “Cell Phones in the Classroom: What’s Your Policy?”. In this post the author shares the results of one study in which researchers established a reduction in grades based on cell phone usage in the classroom. Furthermore, students apparently underestimate how often they actually use their phones. But what was most interesting to me is the assertion that other students are distracted by another individual’s cell phone usage when in the classroom.

There are plenty of other articles on this topic. For example, one interesting article from 2013 explores the link between cell phone usage and social anxiety. You can find it here: http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2015/01/the-socially-anxious-generation/384458/

I have yet to find a truly effective solution to the problem. Let me know if you have any suggestions!

Alternative to Traditional Presentations

It seems like every semester at some point many faculty enter a period of in-class presentations. I definitely use them in my Communications courses. And as much as I believe in using the project as a skill building assignment, they also take up a LOT of time. That is why I was very interested to read about an alternative approach to the traditional in-class presentation: an online presentation. Even in writing those last few words I can hear the collective sigh of relief of many of our students at the possibility of not having to present, in person, in front of a group.

The article “Maximize In-Class Time by Moving Student Presentations Online” provides a step-by-step guide to facilitating presentations online. In reading through the steps, it does appear that there are some technical requirements but not any drastic limitations to implementing the strategy. If you’re interested in trying something new when it comes to student presentations, you can read the entire article here:

http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/teaching-with-technology-articles/maximize-class-time-moving-student-presentations-online/?ET=facultyfocus:e140:1108367a:&st=email

Sugata Mitra’s School in the Cloud

I watched this talk on Ted.com and can’t stop thinking about what Mitra’s discoveries say about education and teaching. If you’re not familiar with the story, Mitra was teaching computer programming at a school in New Delhi that was situated next to a slum. Curious about the connection between having money and having the potential to learn, Mitra decided to put a computer in the exterior wall of the school so that the children living in the slum could access the technology. What he discovered is nothing short of amazing. If you have twenty minutes to spare and want to see an inspirational talk about the potential to learn and our role as educators, please watch this video: