dlf on 05.05.15 julie christie (uodit) – uodit and distance learning susannah silver (llc) –...
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DLF on 05.05.15
Julie Christie (UoDIT) – UoDIT and Distance Learning
Susannah Silver (LLC) – Blackboard Collaborate
Aileen McGuigan (ESWCE), with materials provided by Susie Schofield (CME) – Students and online discussion
Check out the DLF page on the elearning blog: http://blog.dundee.ac.uk/knowledge/
DLF on 05.05.15
Check out the DLF page on the elearning blog: http://blog.dundee.ac.uk/knowledge/
Anything for elearning subcommittee? Email: Aileen or [email protected]@dundee.ac.uk
CENTRE FOR MEDICAL EDUCATION
Centre for Medical Education, The Mackenzie Building, Kirsty Semple Way, Dundee DD2 4BFTel: 01382 381952 www.dundee.ac.uk/meded
Online discussions: lessons learnt from a non-cohort moduleSusie SchofieldSenior Lecturer / module lead
Participating in an online discussion can Reduce feelings of isolation for distance learners
(Lake, 1999)Develop online communication skills (Light &
Cox, 2001)Encourage deeper engagement with the
curriculum (Boulos et al, 2006)Encourage shyer students to participate (Alamro
& Schofield, 2012)
ChallengesVery time-consuming for the tutor (O’Quinn, &
Corry, 2002)Technical support (ibid)Challenging to assess (Nandi et al, 2012)Assessment may result in excessive time
polishing post rather than engaging in discussion (UNSW, 2013)
ChallengesContributing regularly is time consumingNon-cohort may result in little peer interactionAs time goes on, discussion builds up
Nothing new to sayTime-consuming to read
Cultural challengesTechnology-related challenges
Questions for the DLF – for discussion in groups(1) In your opinion, what works well (or might work well) for engaging students in online discussions? And, what doesn’t work so well?
(10 mins: 5 mins discussion; 5 mins feedback)
Questions for the DLF – for discussion in groups(2) What is the impact on staff and students of assessing online discussions? And is it worth the effort?
(10 mins: 5 mins discussion; 5 mins feedback)
Questions for the DLF – for discussion in groups(3) Why include online discussion in online programmes? Any suggestions for any other activity that might work better?
(10 mins: 5 mins discussion; 5 mins feedback)
Questions for the DLF – views on emoticons and register(4) Smilies? Formal or informal register?
Does it matter?
(10 mins: 5 mins discussion; 5 mins feedback)
“I personally think smilies and very unprofessional, and would be a little unimpressed if a formal email or text message from a colleague contained them. They strike me as a slightly trite way of masking over a lack of diplomacy or being too lazy to construct a sentence that communicates your feelings effectively.
Consider this : How often are you giving a cheeky smile when you type (:p) or actually laughing when you type "lol"? My fear is that it could come across as a bit disingenuous. That said, I can see some of the other members here are fans of smilies, and I can completely understand and respect why. Its all about the context and who you’re speaking to.”
A student responds re emoticons
Learning points from Susie’s studyFascinating reading but…Very time heavyNot much replying to other studentsVery tutor-dependentSome evidence amongst students of recognising own
development across moduleSome good links for future moduleA useful evaluation tool (but ethical? Honest?)
Lessons learnt by SusieDiscussions can be hosted as blogsThey need a question to focus the discussionBroken links – students should know where to report
them and they should be fixed quicklyAn expectations and format intro is usefulNon-cohort groups are highly tutor-dependentWould have liked a like buttonSubscribe made it manageable (just)Would have like a notification button
And by the students
Importance of reflection
“I learnt that reflecting on other students' contributions, even in the non-cohort group, is just as valuable as reflection on course material.”
And end-of-module reflection
“I enjoyed this part of the assessment as it made me revisit posts and reflect on the content which helped consolidate the learning. Without an examination I wanted to encourage revisiting posts, though do appreciate the time-stretched strategic learner might just choose at random without revisiting”
Importance of moderation
“In fact, not getting a response became unsettling. Was my response off-target? Did no one care?”
“This was assisted by the prompt eModeration from the tutors, and this is definitely a lesson I will take forward to my own teaching practice, as I found the prompt response helped me to remain engaged and involved as I moved through the module.”
Importance of a task“I think you forgot to put a task for that article so we didn’t comment”
“The activities were a good stimulus for motivating participants to reflect and discuss the topic at hand. I appreciated that the tutors did not restrict participants to responding only to the assigned tasks, but encouraged free thought.”
Impact of module
“I am excited to take the lessons learned here and try to apply them to my own teaching”
“Having experienced how deep learning can be achieved through a discussion board I now feel more confident to use this approach to teaching and learning in my own context. “
And challenging
“I have found this module the most challenging so far – partly because of my limited experience in using e-learning technologies …
I thought I would struggle to find enough to say – but in the end as always I had too much reflection.”
References Alamro A, Schofield S (2012). Blended problem based learning in the Qatar
medical programme. Medical Teacher, 34: S20-S24. Boulos MN, Maramba I, Wheeler S (2006) Wikis, blogs and podcasts. a new
generation of Web-based tools for virtual collaborative clinical practice and education. BMC Medical Education 6(41)
Kaufmann DM, Mann KV (2010) Teaching and learning in medical education: how theory can inform practice. In: Swanwick T, ed. (2014) Understanding Medical Education: Evidence, Theory and Practice Ch 2
Lake D (1999) Reducing Isolation for Distance Students: An On line Initiative ‐Open Learning: The Journal of Open, Distance and e-Learning 14:3, 14-23
Light G, Cox R (2001) Learning & Teaching in Higher Education: The Reflective Professional London: SAGE
Nandi D, Hamiton M, Chang S, Balbo S (2012) Evaluating quality in online asynchronous interactions between students and discussion facilitators Australasian Journal of Educational Technology 28(4): 684-702
O'Quinn, L. & Corry M. (2002, December 16). Factors that deter faculty from participating in distance education. Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration , 5 (4)
UNSW (2013) Assessing by Discussion Board [online] available at: http://teaching.unsw.edu.au/assessing-discussion-board