Transcript Beyond the Brainstorm:

Beyond the Brainstorm:
Deepening online collaborative
dialogue for learning
Simmons College
January, 2010
Sarah Haavind, Ed.D. ~ [email protected]
Lesley University, School of Education
New Venue: new opportunities
Anytime, anywhere, but “scheduled
asynchronous.”
 Asynchronous, text-based reflective,
dialogue.
Collaboration at a distance.
Shift away from lecture-based to
learner-centered, inquiry-based or
online pedagogy.
Starting Point & Bridge
• How do we take advantage of online
discussion opportunities to foster
collaborative dialogue, or collaborative
presence?
• How do we define the instructor's role when
students are working as a group?
• How do we define the learner’s role?
Fostering Collaborative Presence
 Set a community culture;
 Construct discussion prompts that are
inherently collaborative;
 Explicitly teach participants HOW to engage
collaboratively;
 Nurture collaborative presence by facilitating
from the side/coaching;
 Assessments that support and recognize
collaborative efforts.
Research on
Collaborative Online Pedagogy
 Sloan Consortium (Sloan-C)
 Hiltz & Goldman (2005)Learning Together
Online
 The International Review of Research in
Open and Distance Learning (IRRODL)
 Garrison & Anderson (2003) E-Learning in
the 21st Century
 Collison et. al. (2000) Facilitating Online
Learning
Research (continued)
 White & Weight (2000) The Online Teaching
Guide;
 Bender (2003) Discussion Based Online
Teaching to Enhance Student Learning:
Theory, Practice & Assessment
 Roberts (2004) Online Collaborative
Learning: Theory & Practice
 Roberts (2006) Self, Peer and Group
Assessment in E-learning
Setting a Community Culture
 Make expectations explicit (Learner Support
Agreement, Up-front info)
 Weekly announcements that remind
participants of upcoming responsibilities and
opportunities
 Respond to Tech and “What do I do?”
questions asap
 Sit on your hands when questions about
content appear. Online wait time!
 Peer Moderating with training/support.
Purposeful Discussion Spaces
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Student Lounge
Technical Questions
Questions about Content
Class Debriefing Meetings
Community Building
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Quick and helpful
support
Community-building
activities
Virtual Cafe for
networking
Safe environment
for risk-taking
Expectations for Learners
You and your peers are expected to read
everything in course discussions. Therefore:
Be succinct (re-read, refine);
 Enter a new message subject for each
post;
 Cite phrases you are building on.
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5 Keys: Facilitating the Learning
 Generative questions for dialogue
 Grounded questions for dialogue
 Interventions for wandering discussions &
Landscapes, not summaries
 Rubrics that support deepened dialogue
 Assessments that support deepened dialogue
Cast a Wide Net, Avoid Generic
“What did you think?”
 What did you underline or note in the
margins and why?
 What did you learn from the reading?
 What connections with your own experiences
did you make?
 What disagreements did you have with the
author/speaker?
 What questions did the activity bring to the
fore?
Grounded Questions
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Given what the author suggests, what new
steps might you take in your practice?
Is video clip A or B more useful in your
context and why?
What observations can you make about your
data, having tried the new protocol?
How does this author illuminate patterns in
current events?
Explicit Teaching of HOW to
engage collaboratively
NOT:
Post two or three
responses to this
discussion.
INSTEAD:
After posting your
initial thoughts, ask
a question, build on
someone else’s
observation, extend
an idea, or
otherwise engage
with one another’s
comments.
Facilitating Beyond Brainstorming
What if no one posts in three days?
What if eighteen ideas get floated in the
first 24 hours?
What if disagreement emerges and
flaming takes place?
New Voices are needed
 Generative Guide
 Conceptual
Facilitator
 Mediator
 Personal Muse
 Role Play
 Reflective Guide
Guiding...
Leading...
 I was intrigued…
 Mary’s comment,
“…” got me
thinking…
 John’s note
that…made me
wonder…
Guide on the Side/
Expert Learner
 I loved that Ann
said, “…”
 Great comment,
John! Thanks for
pointing out…
 Good point, Mark…
Expert in the middle/
Tells what I think
=)
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;-) 8-) Tone ^-^ :-z :^)
Neutral
Nurturing
Informal
Curious
Imaginative
Whimsical
Analytical
Humorous
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????
!!!!
!
Devil’s Advocate
Explaining
Telling
Praising
Suggesting
Critical Thinking Strategies
Id Direction
Sort for Relevance
Focus on Key Points
Honor Multiple Perspectives
Making Connections
Full Spectrum Questioning
Guiding Interventions
In an earlier dialogue, Louine asked
What about moderators that "play the devil's advocate" to
encourage discussion???
Bob builds on that thought now, asking,
Why would we want to have a voice different than our
own? What purpose does it serve and I think there is a
question of honesty here? I know that sometimes in f2f
settings that you will play the devils advocate and in this
way stimulate discussion.
They were clearly on to something. But now, after reading and
thinking so much more about online moderators' voice and tone,
what are your thoughts about the common face-to-face "devil's
advocate" voice/tone for cyber-learning?
Nurturing their Community
Avoid public praise (you in the middle)
Wait til next week (!) to answer a
question
-- or point to it again
Effusively praise in private feedback
Explicitly teach people how to engage
collaboratively
Foster pragmatic dialogue
Rubric for Postings
Completed: Single entry, no interaction
with other participants’ postings evident.
Collaborative: The response builds on
the ideas of another one or two
participants and digs deeper into
questions or issues, contributes halfbaked ideas for others to add to, or asks
the group a question.
Rubric (continued)
Generative:
The post integrates multiple views and/or
provides a seed for reflection evinced
by other participants' responses in its
thread.
The post highlights a tension or
contributes language, a metaphor or a
study tool that serves to deepen the
dialogue.
Evaluation: Ongoing assessment
• Postings make assessment continuous,
on-going.
• Evidence of learning is embedded in
student contributions alongside
assignments and projects.
• Cycles of peer-review and revision prior
to submission for instructor feedback
are included.
Activity Design Features
that explicitly promote collaborative dialogue
Should the US allow greater use of irradiation to decrease food
contamination?
10 points for posting your initial comments (by Thursday)
10 points for adding something to the discussion…knowledge, a
website, a question for clarification, etc. (by Friday)
10 points for responding to at least two others (by Sunday)
10 points for your final thoughts about the topic (Monday or
Tuesday)
Before making your final comment you should read all other
comments posted. Your final comments may include something
you learned, something that surprised you, a summary, a
shared thought, what you consider important about the topic,
what you still wonder about, etc.
Discussion Design without Collaborative
Emphasis
Think about the following questions and make a
comment to the discussion called
“Environmental Problems.” What do you think is
Earth’s most serious environmental problem?
What caused, or causes, the problem? How do
you think this problem should be dealt with?
Collaborative Course Design
UN Simulation class
Wk 2: Meet the Delegates
Wk 3: Who Is That Man?
Wk 4:Discussion: What is the UN?
OK everyone now that you are all “experts” on how the UN is
organized let’s see what you think. In this discussion you can
post answers to questions or ask questions. I would like to
stress that for classroom discussion you should * not * only ask
questions. Posting questions and not doing any more than that
is easy. I want to know your ideas as well. I’ll get things started
with this: What do you think are positive aspects or strengths of
the way the Security Council is organized?
UN Simulation (cont.)
Wks 5-10: Prepare & present Nation reports.
Those students not reporting on a country will be graded on the quality
and frequency of their participation in the weekly discussions on the
countries assigned last week. You must comment frequently and in a
relevant manner on each report…I will be looking for a relevant
comment/question from each student on each report listed. You must
also check back to see what the reporters have responded to your
comment…The person who reported on this country and topic is
responsible for facilitating discussion and answering questions students
may have.
Wks 11-14: UN Simulation with each delegate representing
their nation in the context of a global challenge.
Sarah Haavind, Ed.D. ~ [email protected]
Lesley University, School of Education