Unit 3 Study Guide
Summary Online teaching - facilitation hints and tips
A. Teaching presence
1. Design
•materials including clear objects, designs appropriate activities, providing guidelines and establishes netiquette.
•including clear communication of time parameters, due dates and deadlines
•using the reply and quote function and medium
•designing clear goals, course topic and introduction
•ARCS Model of Motivation for instructional design
Attention: In order to motivate students to learn, you must gain and keep the learner's attention.
Relevance: In order to motivate students, it is important to make the material relevant to the learner.
Confidence: To motivate students, they must gain confidence from the activity.
Satisfaction: To motivate students, the learner must be satisfied with the outcome.
2.Direct Instruction
•giving tutor behavior to gain and keep the learner's attention
•facilitating conditions by accepting climate, diagnosing and keeping track of students
•using short messages acknowledging a student’s contribution and followed by guidance
•offer precise directions with clear expectations: scope, approach, tone (courteous and respectful of various viewpoints), length (minimum and maximum-we recommend 250-350 words), diction (such as “edited conversational”), form or genre (letter or memo or report), and deadlines for each post. You may want to provide a model of a good post. (Reiss, D. et al., 1996)
•as participants become more self sufficient and motivated then avoid responding to each message but focus on setting up (Salmon, G. 2000)
•discussions really well and then summarizing after a given length of time, adding your own teaching points then if appropriate (Salmon, G. 2000)
•give timely feedback and prompt discussions when necessary, but leaving space for students to respond first if appropriate. (Salmon, G. 2000)
B. Social Presence
1. Express Emotion
•self-disclosure to share feelings, attitudes, experiences and interests
•exchanging personal information to reduce feelings of social isolation
•using humor to decreases social distance and convey goodwill
•greeting each participant by a welcome e mail on their first arrival, as well as in the conference
•using conversational strategies such humorous banter, teasing and joking
•using emoticons to express missing nonverbal cues in written form
2. Open Communication
•using the reply feature to poster messages, by quoting directly from conference transcripts
•directing a comment to someone in particular
•referring explicitly to the content of other’s messages
•explicitly expressing appreciation and agreement as well as complimenting
3. Group Cohesion
• addressing the group as “we,” “our,” or “us.”
• addressing participants by name to express group cohesion.
• using conversational strategies such humorous banter, teasing and joking
C. Cognitive Presence
•designing well structured debate activities
•providing clearly defined roles and responsibilities for the students.
•provoking the students to explicitly confront others' opinions
•how to teach posting (Reiss, D. et al., 1996)
First post: respond to the reading or assigned topic with specific reference to the reading. Invite commentary from classmates about a particular concern, ending with an invitation or question.
Second post: read all the posts in your group and then respond to the first post of a classmate who has not yet received a reply. Include specific reference to the main idea of the classmate’s post and to the assigned reading or topic, expand on the classmate’s ideas with additional information or ideas or offer an alternative viewpoint on the topic and support your position. Perhaps raise questions and speculate further on the topic.
Third post: respond to the person who answered your first post with appreciation for their response and an explanation of ways their message increased your own understanding or stimulated your thinking. Remember your audience is a specific individual plus your whole class. Additional post: summarize all the messages from your group and analyze for primary points, similarities and differences, and other observations about the group’s thinking.
•providing frequent opportunities for students to critique each other’s work, to add new information and to synthesize knowledge e.g. after a discussion that brings different points of view to a topic, students could collaborate on a summary of their discussion then post it for other groups to read. (Salmon, G. 2000)
D. Motivating Tips for online learner
1. Motivation Factor
•Assessment: equity issues make the topic of online assessment is difficult to resolve. Ensure accessibility of all your course participants prior to making submissions to a discussion board assessable. Make use of the assessment tools within WebCT or provide alternative assessment items. (Salmon, G. 2000)
•Exam: writing the words 'exam' and 'assessment' will ensure the attention of students. For example, you could post the following: 'In last year's exam I asked the following question and I would like each of you to have a go at answering it, in less than one page, and post your answers to the group. The question was:..." (Salmon, G. 2000)
•Synchronous communication: a tutorial group discussion can be simulated by using the chat facility or by simply arranging for students to be logged onto the discussion board at the same time. (Salmon, G. 2000)
•Facilitator of the week: students can, on a rotational basis, to take over most of your facilitator roles. The student who is the 'facilitator of the week' is responsible for weaving the discussion and posting summaries and encouraging students to post messages. Your role becomes one of a content expert, ensuring that misconceptions are recognized. (Salmon, G. 2000)
2. Metacognition Factor
•Self-questioning: e.g. "What do I already know about this topic? How have I solved problems like this before?" (Salmon, G. 2000)
•Rephrasing: rephrasing a student’s posting gives it a sense of authority. e.g. you could send the following email: 'Last week Frank asked about the origins of the word "jump". Here are my suggestions. Does anyone have any other ideas?' (Salmon, G. 2000)
•making graphic representations of one's thoughts and knowledge: e.g. concept maps, flow charts, semantic webs
3. Behavior Factor
•Environmental structuring; keeping records and monitoring; reviewing texts, notes and tests; and seeking assistance from teacher and parents.
•including clear communication of time parameters, due dates and deadlines
•Review: periodically post a 'regroup' message that reviews what has been covered to date. As people work at different rates, it is important to ensure that everyone is brought up to date and has covered the same material and has a similar understanding/learning. (Salmon, G. 2000)
•Reflection : encourage students to reflect about online discussions before replying. Suggest that they download the messages, read them off-line, create their responses, and then log-on to send their messages. This is particular useful if dealing with students in remote areas, or where students are charged for time spent online. (Salmon, G. 2000)
Back: Unit Three: Implementing Class Management Plan
HOME