Talk:Facilitating Effective Online Discourse

Work in progress...

Hi Anne. It is great that you're thinking ahead and have got an idea of the units in your course. Great. A suggestion I have is that designing a course is different from writing an review article in that you need to focus on target learning outcomes and addressing the identified gaps. In your specific case, I think the following two learning objectives (headings) you identified are actually targeting the same outcome:

• Identify and apply design issues to be considered in building online discussion activities.
• Understand and implement best practices in online discourse.

They are both helping learners understand how to design and facilitate online discussions, and the best practices are just examples/materials you will use to support that goal. --Jianwei

Formative review -- Jz833665 20:00, 23 April 2008 (EDT)

A typo: Choose appropriate educational technology tools to will enhance discussion.

Miriam’s Review for Anne

• Table adapted from Jianwei's evaluation criteria Evaluation_criteria for the design project.

Overall: Can this unit help me learn something meaningful and achieve the stated objectives	Comments: Great job so far! I think you have a wonderful start on a very interesting topic, and I am looking forward to seeing your final project.
Your design portfolio page (20%): Your portfolio page reports all the required instructional analysis work (i.e., selecting topic, defining learning outcomes, learner analysis, etc) and design plans (e.g., your major design rationale for using certain learning methods and media, instructional sequencing, instructional curriculum maps, reflections).	Comments:
Learning outcomes (10%): Expected learning outcomes have been properly identified for the course focusing on “big ideas” related to the selected topic (i.e., ideas that can transform teachers’ understanding of and approaches to learning); and communicated using clear, performance-based terms (e.g., Gagne, p. 134);	Comments: There are four clearly identified ideas that relate to online discussions. All of the four ideas could stand alone as separate topics (there is lots of information that can be found and created for each).
Content-goal consistency (10%): The content and learning experience afforded by the course can help learners achieve the identified learning outcomes, sufficient and necessary.	Comments: From your “Organize and Sequence” section in your portfolio you define what each unit of your design will entail. The information is consistent and the learner has clear objectives.
Instructional sequencing (20%): Specific learning objectives have been sequenced in a way that can facilitate the learning of the content, addressing prerequisites before proceeding to major concepts, highlighting connections.	Comments: You learning objects and target objectives for each unit are clear and the learner is aware of what to expect. You did a great job with addressing prerequisites and what the learner should expect to learn.
Engagement and interaction (20%): Use effective strategies (e.g., prompts, headings, questions, scenarios, activities) to motivate learners, attract attentions, and promote reflection and interaction.	Comments: In all three of your units you have included an activity and a reflection. The learners are also given an opportunity to provide feedback.
Technical quality (10%): Text and pictures are informative and easy to read. Navigation links are properly designed and highlighted to facilitate easy browsing.	Comments: All of your links are active and your design is easy to ready and follow. The layout is easy to read.
Extended resources (10%): External, useful resources are linked, recommended, and acknowledged.	Comments: I like the way you separated the reading materials from the software. It makes it easy to read and follow.