I was most struck by chapter eight of this week's readings on classroom discussion forums. Johnson & Manning make the case that online courses have the potential to provide the same, if not better, quality of instruction as a live class. As a student who has attended several online courses featuring discussion forums, I feel that I have been able to get a good look at this part of technology in education. The Johnson & Manning text states that "what defines this form of communication [forums] as a discussion is the back-and-forth discourse, similar to discussion in real time. However, what sets online discussion apart is classroom cousin is that, in the online environment, every voice has the opportunity to be heard"(62). I will agree that the quality of the discussion in an online forum is what either makes or breaks a course. Courses that are rich in dialogue and ideas that bounce back and forth from student to student are more interesting and offer more information for student's to glean. However, I have also come to notice a big problem in discussion forums. In a similar manner to what happens in person, students in the classes I have taken tend to comment or facilitate discussion with their real-life friends, meaning that they do not read and contribute to every poster, which is contrary the suggestion provided by Manning & Johnson. This means that every poster is not being heard because their posts are being skimmed or skipped over. What I have found to have worked best for me, personally, was an online course outside of my major where I knew absolutely no one in the class. That way, I had no prior perceptions about anyone's personality that kept me from reading or contributing to discussion.
I do feel that an online education can be successful, but I think that it requires a lot more than most courses have to offer. Online conversation requires participation from everyone, including a lot of feedback from the teacher or professor. Well-designed online courses have to engage students in the weekly material in a much different way than traditional classrooms, and I think this is only just beginning to be mastered. Online discussion forums are, indeed, a lovely way to facilitate learning, but only if used properly by all users.
Hope this finds you well.
ReplyDeleteYou make an interesting point about discussion boards. What kind of technology do you think might better facilitate an online conversation in these style of courses? Or how might an instructor organize the class that ensures that students engage a wider range of students in the online discussions?
I have noticed that my "group" in my other classes has narrowed. On my part, I really relate to some of the postings and seem to gravitate towards other students "who speak my language." It is probably similar to the same process that would occur in a real-time classroom. Nonetheless, I do try to at least "skim" the other students posts to stay informed.
Kim.