Online Interaction and Small Group Work Inez M. Giles June 8, 2000

Agenda n Discuss nature of interactivity/dialogue n Look at small group issues n Demo of online classes to illustrate points n Hands-on exercise

Why online? n Convenience! – Anecdotal – Survey results – Giles’ dissertation n 89% of students cited convenience as reason

Convenience Defined n Distance education frees students from the constraints of time and place (Moore) n Asynchronous interaction

Quality Benchmarks n Teaching/Learning Benchmarks n Course Structure Benchmarks n Student Support Benchmarks n Faculty Support Benchmarks n Evaluation and Assessment Benchmarks

Non-Essential Benchmarks n Courses should be broken into modules n Specific time expectations are set for faculty and students n ***Courses require collaboration and group work***

Some Key Findings n Policies follow practice n Faculty teaching distance classes were usually volunteers and highly regarded by their peers n ****Interactivity is essential to quality***

Interactivity/Async. Dialogue n Conversation between two or more people n Facilitates changes and perspective transformation (Mezirow) n Valuable for revealing diversity of opinion that lies below the surface of complex issues (Brookfield)

Interactivity/Dialogue n Exemplifies democratic process (Dewey) – Have opportunity to voice opinions n “Moral endeavor” (Rorty) – Bringing people together in conversation and challenging them to create new meanings

Opposition to Interactivity n Insufficient time n No experience with moderating dialogue (especially online) n “Just the facts” n Risky n Others?

Techniques n Ask open ended questions n Give opposing point of view (counter arguments) n Ask which questions they would like to discuss n Develop a “Critical Incident Questionnaire (Brookfield)

Planning for Interactivity n Define interactivity for students – Don’t assume they understand your intent n Present the idea carefully – Don’t assume they will be happy about dialogue participation n Model participation

Continuing Interactivity n Questioning, Listing, Responding – Ask for more evidence – Ask for clarification – Link two student’s questions – Post summary/synthesis questions – Paired listening exercises (online) n Establish an online community

Online Community n Suggested traits – Hospitality – Deliberation – Appreciation n For caring enough to share, for thoughtful comments or deep insight n Raises level of trust in classroom

Faculty Development Sessions n Should allow participants to experience asynchronous firsthand n Model behavior in training session n Discuss participant experiences n Don’t focus on technology – Courseware should be in background n Provide rich references and resources

Small Groups Online n Compressed timeframe – Forming, storming, norming, performing n Requires very specific guidelines – Need to manage student expectations of the small group experience

Small Group Issues n Size n Participation – Self-select or assigned n How to kick-off n Performance assessment – Ask students to rate their performance as well as other participants

Reference for lab: n URL: tychousa.umuc.edu n Login: ____ guest (1 - 9) n Password: fotc