Subject: [IFETS-DISCUSSION:916] Encouraging Online Participation
From: Brent Muirhead (bmuirhead@email.uophx.edu)
Date: Tue 16 Jan 2001 - 23:35:04 MET
From: "Brent Muirhead" <bmuirhead@email.uophx.edu> Subject: [IFETS-DISCUSSION:916] Encouraging Online Participation Date: Tue, 16 Jan 2001 17:35:04 -0500
Dr. Muhammad Betz makes an excellent point about the teacher establishing
guidelines for student online interaction. Muhammad relates that "if the
on-line instructor distributes rules for discourse at the outset
of the course, the need for censure should be reduced, which in turn could
reduce student fear and/or intimidation and lead to the sustaining of
student participation throughout the course. End result: more learning."
I teach online graduate research classes at the University of Phoenix and I
find that students are often anxious the first two weeks of class. Students
vary greatly in their educational needs and it helps to provide structure
for them to feel more comfortable working online. During the first few days
of class, it is important to establish communication guidelines for sharing
comments with the class. For instance, I try to communicate to students the
five major purposes of online study of groups.
1.Enhance your self-confidence as you learn to strengthen your
problem-solving skills
2.Learn to make decisions that distributes the work equally and effectively
among group members
3. Help you process the knowledge and workload of the class
4. Learn how to work under the pressure of deadlines and time constraints
5. Learn how to interact and cooperate with your peers
Additionally, I remind students that it is vital that you interact with
other students online by reflecting on their observations and ideas. Their
online comments should make a significant contribution to the discussion and
that can be demonstrated in one or more of the following ways:
suggest alternative solutions,
identify potential or real problems,
explore new theories,
offer sound rationale from textbooks or articles when disagreeing when
someone's comments
share relevant work and research experiences/knowledge into the weekly
discussion.
My role during the weekly discussions and assignments is to facilitate the
learning process to encourage you to enhance your self-directed study
skills. My goal is to provide a positive atmosphere that encourages students
to take learning risks, learn to work effectively on group assignments and
acquire new skills to independently conduct research projects.
Brent Muirhead D.Min; Ph.D.
University of Phoenix Online
bmuirhead@email.uophx.edu
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