Transcript Online Mentoring and Facilitation for Online Communities and Cross Cultural Exchanges Dr. Curtis J.

Online Mentoring and Facilitation
for Online Communities and Cross
Cultural Exchanges
Dr. Curtis J. Bonk
Indiana University
CourseShare
http://php.indiana.edu/~cjbonk
[email protected]
What Roles of Online
Instructor???
–facilitator, hostess, chair, host,
lecturer, tutor, facilitator,
mediator, mentor, provocateur,
observer, participant, assistant,
organizer
(Paulsen, 1995; Selinger, 1999)
Mason’s (1991) 3 Roles
• Organizational—set agenda, objectives,
timetable, procedural rules
– Patience, vary things, spur discussion, invites
• Social—welcome, thank, provide feedback,
and set generally positive tone
– Reinforce good things, invite to be candid
• Intellectual—probe, ask q’s, refocus, set
goals, weave comments, synthesize
comments
– Know when to summarize and to leave alone
Four Key Hats of Instructors:
–Technical—do students have basics? Does their
equipment work? Passwords work?
–Managerial—Do students understand the
assignments and course structure?
–Pedagogical—How are students interacting,
summarizing, debating, thinking?
–Social—What is the general tone? Is there a
human side to this course? Joking allowed?
– (Ashton, Roberts, & Teles, 1999)
Let’s Explore These Hats Again
With Specific Examples!
–Technical
–Social
–Managerial
–Pedagogical
Technological Hat
• Address tool/system familiarity
• Require early assignment to test
technology
• Have orientation task, early training
• Be flexible, smooth out problems
• Plan, test, support
Social Hat
• Create community, set tone, motivate
• Welcome, thank, invite, reinforce
positives
• Foster shared knowledge
• Support humor and conversational tone
• Use tools such as cafes, profiles, pictures
• Invite to be candid
Managerial Hat
• Set agenda, timetable/calendar, assignment
page
• Set objectives, clear times, due dates,
expectations
• Explain rules, assignments, intended audiences
• Assign teams and coordinate meeting times
• Monitor discussions and track logins
• Provide weekly feedback and class updates
• Manage gradebooks; post grading rubrics
Pedagogical Hat
• Use PBL or inquiry environment
• Refer to outside resources and experts
• Coordinate student interaction, team
collaboration
• Assign roles, set goals, foster peer feedback
• Ask probing questions, refocus, nudge, instruct
• Scaffold, give advice, mentor
• Weave, synthesize, link ideas, provide overviews
• Know when to intervene and when to leave
alone
How to
Combine these
Roles?
E-Moderator
• Refers to online teaching and facilitation role.
Moderating used to mean to preside over a
meeting or a discussion, but in the electronic
world, it means more than that. It is all roles
combined—to hold meetings, to encourage, to
provide information, to question, to
summarize, etc.
(Collins & Berge, 1997; Gilly Salmon, 2000); see
http://www.emoderators.com/moderators.shtml.
E-Moderating
E-Moderating: The Key to Teaching and Learning Online,
(Gilly Salmon, (1999) Kogan Page)
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Know when to stay silent for a few days.
Close off unused or unproductive conferences.
Provide relevant and purposeful conferences.
Provide a variety of conference topics.
Deal promptly with dominance, harassment,
and excessive lurking.
• Summarize and archive often.
eModerators.com Web Site
http://www.emoderators.com/moderators.shtml#mod
Pedagogical Recommendations
(Berge, 1995, The role of the online instructor/facilitator)
• Don’t expect too much/thread
• Draw attention to conflicting views
• Do not lecture (Long, coherent sequence
of comments yields silence)
• Request responses within set time
• Maintain non-authoritarian style
• Promote private conversations
Social Recommendations
(Berge, 1995, The role of the online instructor/facilitator)
• Guard against fear or public ridicule
• Be accepting of lurkers
• Do not ignore bad discussant behavior—
privately request change
• Use introductions
• Limit use of humor and sarcasm
• Praise behavior you seek
Managerial Recommendations
(Berge, 1995, The role of the online instructor/facilitator)
• Distribute lists of participants
• Provide timely administrative info—
books, enrollment, counseling, etc.
• Change procedures that are not working
• Change misplaced subject headings
• Decisively end discussion sessions
• Don’t overload
Other Hats
Personal Learning Trainer
• Learners need a personal trainer to lead
them through materials and networks,
identify relevant materials and advisors
and ways to move forward (Mason, 1998;
Salmon, 2000).
Online Concierge
• To provide support and information on
request (perhaps a map of the area…)
(Gilly Salmon, 2000).
Online Conductor
• The pulling together of a variety of
resources as people as in an orchestra to
produce beautiful integrated sound or
perhaps electrical current conductors if
your conferences are effective and flow
along, there will be energy, excitement,
and power (Gilly Salmon, 2000).
E-Police
• While one hopes you will not call yourself
this nor find the need to make laws and
enforce them, you will need some Code of
Practice or set procedures, and protocols
for e-moderators (Gilly Salmon, 2000).
Convener
• A term that is used especially with online
conferences and courses where there is a
fairly side audience (Gilly Salmon, 2000).
Online Negotiator
• Where knowledge construction online is
desired, the key role for the e-moderator
is one of negotiating the meaning of
activities and information thought online
discussion and construction (Gilly
Salmon, 2000).
Online Host
• The social role of online working is
important so there may be a need for a
social host or hostess. They do not need
to run social events online (though they
may) but ensure everyone is greeted and
introduced to others with like-minded
interests (Gilly Salmon, 2000).
Other Hats
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Weaver—linking comments/threads
Tutor—individualized attention
Participant—joint learner
Provocateur—stir the pot (& calm flames)
Observer—watch ideas and events unfold
Mentor—personally apprentice students
Community Organizer—keep system going
Still More Hats
Assistant
Devil’s advocate
Editor
Expert
Filter
Firefighter
Facilitator
Gardener
Helper
Lecturer
Marketer
Mediator
Priest
Promoter
How form a
community…???
A learning community is a group of
individuals interested in a common
topic or area, who engage in
knowledge related transactions as well
as transformations within it. They
take advantage of the opportunity to
exchange ideas and learn collectively.
(Bonk & Wisher, 2000;
Fulton & Riel, 1999)
Factors in Creating any
Community
(1) membership/identity
(2) influence
(3) fulfill of indiv needs/rewards
(4) shared events & emotional
connections
(McMillan & Chavis, 1986).
History, stories, expression, identity, participation,
respect, autonomy, celebration, team building, shape
group, Schwier, 1999)
Help Categorize the Degree of Online
Community (Chao, 1999)
(1) self-disclosures, time, energy
(2) refer to norms, rules, others
(3) give and receive info, express
need, thank, criticize, suggest
(4) special stories, symbols, events,
identify spiritual bonds
How Facilitate Online
Community?
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Safety: Establish safe environment
Tone: Flexible, inviting, positive, respect
Personal: Self-disclosures, open, stories telling
Sharing: Share frustrations, celebrations, etc
Collaboration: Camaraderie/empathy
Common language: conversational chat
space
• Task completion: set milestones & grp goals
• Other: Meaningful, choice, simple, purpose...
Web Facilitation Advice
from Vanessa Dennen: San
Diego State University
Research on Nine Online
Courses
• 9 case studies of online classes using
asynchronous discussion
• Topics: sociology, history, communications,
writing, library science, technology, counseling
• Range of class size: 15 - 106
• Level: survey, upper undergraduate, and
graduate
• Tools: custom and commercial
• Private, semi-public, and public discussion areas
Goals, Needs & Extrinsic
Motivation
• Participation was higher in cases where
students had a clear goal or need and
extrinsic motivation to participate
• Sample instances
– Required assignment with feedback/grade
– Need help
– Need to understand material
• Few students participated merely because
they could
Unique or Perspective-based
Discussion
• Greater dialogue was generated when
students were encouraged or required to
share their own perspectives or unique
examples
• Fact-based questioning strategies did not
work well
• Students used perspectives and examples
to make meaning of material
Guidelines and Feedback
• Qualitative discussion guidelines and
feedback helped students know what
their participation should look like
• Quantitative discussion guidelines and
feedback comforted students and was
readily understood by them
• Feedback of both varieties was needed
at regular intervals, although the
qualitative feedback need not be
individualized
Deadlines
• Deadlines motivated participation
– Message counts increased in the days
immediately preceding a deadline
• Deadlines inhibited dialogue
– Students posted messages but did not
discuss
– Too much lag time between initial
messages and responses
Modeling
• Instructor modeling increased the
likelihood of student messages meeting
quality and content expectations
• Modeling was more effective than
guidelines
Motivation and Presence
• Instructor must find balanced presence in
course to truly motivate students to learn
and perform their best
• Too little instructor presence can cause
low levels of student involvement
• Too much instructor presence can cause
perfunctory and/or uninspired student
involvement
Poor Instructors
• Little or no feedback
given
• Always authoritative
• Kept narrow focus of
what was relevant
• Created tangential
discussions
• Only used “ultimate”
deadlines
Good Instructors
• Provided regular
qual/quant feedback
• Participated as peer
• Allowed perspective
sharing
• Tied discussion to
grades, other assns.
• Used incremental
deadlines
More on How to Facilitate...
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Find common ref pt--mission, purpose, need
Guide to negotiate/co-construct meaning
Establish some common practices or rituals
Hold regularly scheduled events--chats, tours
Create opportunities to contribute/develop
Apply course to lived experiences
Keep simple, give choice, build respect &
tension
Facilitating Electronic Discussion
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Provide Guidelines and Structure
Weave and Summarize Weekly
Be patient, prompt, and clear
Assign Due Dates, Times, and Points
Constantly Monitor, Converse not Dictate
Assign Buddies/Pals or Include Mentoring
Extend Beyond Class with
Peers/Practitioners
Online Mentoring and
Assistance Online
Twelve forms of electronic learning
mentoring and assistance
(Bonk & Kim, 1998; Tharp, 1993; Bonk et al., 2001)
1. Social (and cognitive)
Acknowledgement: "Hello...," "I
agree with everything said so far...,"
"Wow, what a case," "This case
certainly has provoked a lot of
discussion...," "Glad you could join
us..."
2. Questioning: "What is the name of this
concept...?," "Another reason for this might
be...?," "An example of this is...," "In contrast
to this might be...,""What else might be
important here...?," "Who can tell me....?,"
"How might the teacher..?." "What is the real
problem here...?," "How is this related to...?,“,
"Can you justify this?"
3. Direct Instruction: "I think
in class we mentioned that...,"
Chapter ‘X’ talks about...,"
"Remember back to the first week of
the semester when we went over ‘X’
which indicated that..."
4. Modeling/Examples: "I think I
solved this sort of problem once when
I...," "Remember that video we saw on
‘X’ wherein ‘Y’ decided to...," "Doesn't
‘X’ give insight into this problem in case
‘Z’ when he/she said..."
5. Feedback/Praise: "Wow, I'm
impressed...," "That shows real insight
into...," "Are you sure you have
considered...," "Thanks for responding
to ‘X’...," "I have yet to see you or
anyone mention..."
6. Cognitive Task Structuring:
"You know, the task asks you to do...,"
"Ok, as was required, you should now
summarize the peer responses that you
have received...," "How might the
textbook authors have solved this case."
7. Cognitive
Elaborations/Explanations:
"Provide more information here that explains
your rationale," "Please clarify what you
mean by...," "I'm just not sure what you mean
by...," "Please evaluate this solution a little
more carefully."
8. Push to Explore: "You might
want to write to Dr. ‘XYZ’ for...,"
"You might want to do an ERIC
search on this topic...," "Perhaps
there is a URL on the Web that
addresses this topic..."
9. Fostering Reflection/Self Awareness:
"Restate again what the teacher did here,"
"How have you seen this before?," "When
you took over this class, what was the first
thing you did?," "Describe how your teaching
philosophy will vary from this...," "How
might an expert teacher handle this situation?"
10. Encouraging Articulation/Dialogue
Prompting: "What was the problem solving
process the teacher faced here?," "Does
anyone have a counterpoint or alternative to
this situation?," "Can someone give me three
good reasons why...," "It still seems like
something is missing here, I just can't put my
finger on it."
11. General
Advice/Scaffolding/Suggestions:
"If I were in her shoes, I would...," "Perhaps
I would think twice about putting these
people into...," "I know that I would first...,"
"How totally ridiculous this all is; certainly
the “person” should be able to provide
some..."
12. Management (via private e-mail or
discussion): "Don't just criticize....please be
sincere when you respond to your peers," "If
you had put your case in on time, you would
have gotten more feedback." "If you do this
again, we will have to take away your
privileges."
TICKIT Staff Mentoring (IU Study)
(direct instruction and explanations = 0)
3%
6%
24%
5%
Ack nowledge
Question
Examples
14%
Feedback
Task Structure
Push to Explore
9%
4%
Foster Reflection
Enourage Dialogue
Scaffold
Manage
1%
7%
3%
24%
(Bonk, Ehman, & Hixon, 2000)
Weave
Mentoring in COW
Bill Brescia’s (2000) Doc Research on
Online Mentoring
• Simple feedback vital, student clarification too
• Want professor opinions & resource suggestions
• Modeling useful at start; summing at end of
semester
• Most students saw value of reflection, not all
• Student resistance to reading long posts
• Students resistant to weekend posting; continued
posts
• Changing subject link impt to facilitating
discussion
Conferencing On Web (COW)
Three Basic Levels:
1. Conference (public or private)
2. Topic (e.g., special education)
3. Conversation (e.g., reading rewards)
Justified Statement (Finnish)
3. Author: Kirsi
Date: Mar. 6 8:11 AM 1998
Why not let the student study math further by himself and the
teacher could help him whenever the teacher has time. At
least some of the math study books are so designed that one
page has examples that teach you how to solve the problem
and then on the next page there are exercises. I personally
hate being said 'wait' since when I'm interested in something
I want to go on and learn more and not wait. This way I think
the child learns to be responsible of his own learning. If I
quote dear mr Vygotsky here again, the teacher
should be sensitive to see where the child's proximate zone of
development is and to help him 'over' it. The teacher's task is not
to try to keep the child on the level he has reached but to help
him learn more if he is interested…
Unjustified Statements (US)
24. Author: Katherine
Date: Apr. 27 3:12 AM 1998
I agree with you that technology is definitely taking a large part in the
classroom and will more so in the future with all the technological advances that
will be to come but I don't believe that it could actually take over the role of a
teacher…but in my opinion will never take over the role of a teacher.
25. Author: Jason
Date: Apr. 28 1:47 PM 1998
I feel technology will never over take the role of the teacher...I feel however,
this is just help us teachers out and be just another way for us to explain new work
to the children. No matter how advanced technology gets it will never be able to...
26. Author: Daniel
Date: Apr. 30 0:11 AM 1998
I believe that the role of the teacher is being changed by computers, but
the computer will never totally replace the teacher... I believe that the computers
will eventually make teaching easier for us and that most of the children's work
will be done on computers. But I believe that there will always be the need for the
teacher.
Level of Cognitive Processing:
All Posts
Both
12%
Surface
33%
Deep
55%
Surface
Deep
Both
Vertical Mentoring Examples
9. Author: Jerry Cochey ( Mentor)
Date: Mar. 11 1:46 PM 1998
To shift from teacher centered classrooms to child centered classrooms
and learning takes time, patience and a commitment to the idea that
students are responsible for their own learning. Even in this age of
enlightenment(?), we think that a quiet, teacher controlled
classroom shows learning, while research shows that active, talking,
sharing of learning experiences with peers is more productive. Be
patient, it takes a long time to have students change to being
responsible for their own.
8. Author: Jerry Cochey ( Mentor)
Date: Mar. 11 1:54 PM 1998
As each of you have noted, teachers need to continue to
supervise/coordinate learning. How much freedom is given to
students depends on what you know they can accomplish without
direct supervision. Master teachers select what methods are
appropriate and effect for a given student or group of students.
Horizontal Finnish Mentoring
12. Author: Leena Date: Mar. 30 11:52 AM 1998
This case is something I feel very close to. I have been trying struggle with
finding ways to be a teacher in a new way, trying to think everything
from the students' perspective, to challenge my own old traditions of
teaching and try to seek ways which the I could find ways of studying
things together with the students. What really puzzles me is that these
different "projects" have had such extremely different lives. I definitely
loath the idea that a teacher would "send the students to the library and
come back with a mind map" with the only purpose of having an easy
time. But, the problem is that even the simplest thing such as a mindmap, which I've used quite often myself, can lead to so many different
kinds of results. I've learnt during my short stay in the Department of
Teacher Education......What I really don't know yet is how to be a
proper supporter of these processes for students. I have succeeded in
many contexts but feel that there are so many areas to achieve. In the
end, finding the "right" path is really a matter of mutual understanding
between students and teachers, open discussion, with mutual trust.
Without such dialogue, nothing can be developed. - Leena
Frequent Case Topics
Topic
Management
Motivation
Instructional Approaches
Individual Differences (special education
and gifted)
Hot Topics (e.g., teacher burnout,
violence in school, corporal punishment,
and drugs and alcohol)
Development (physical, cognitive, and
social/emotional)
Behaviorism and Social Learning Theory
Number of
Cases
312
185
178
152
83
70
57
Problems Solved By COW
• Student isolation in field experiences
• Lack of community/dialogue among teacher
education participants
• Disconnectedness between class and field exper
• Limited reflective practices of novice teachers
• Need for appreciation of multiple perspectives
Overall Major Findings
• COW enhanced student learning
– provided a link between classroom and field
– encouraged learning about technology
• COW extended student learning
– students got feedback from outside their immediate
community
– students saw international perspective
• COW transformed student learning
– students took ownership for learning
– students co-constructed knowledge base
Qualitative Themes Continued...
• Students were attracted to cases that…
– had interesting titles
– were on familiar topics
– were on controversial topics
– they had opinions about
• Peer feedback was appreciated but not deep
• Mentor feedback was apprec. & motivating
Types of Online Mentoring
(Vince Rowe (2000), e-learning, 1(2), pp. 42-43.
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Live interactive chat
Delayed/async Discussions
E-mail—Q&A, interviews, etc.
FAQs—libraries of previous q&a’s
Message Boards—post tips, titles, sources, etc.
Assignments/Assessment with expert review
Staged Events—online conferences, online
speeches, impersonalizations, mock trials, etc.
Sample Free K-12 Online
Mentoring
Mentoring in the Military (AC3-DL)
So,
what
will
you
do
now?