Discussion Applied Pedagogies Ch. 4

THE ONLINE WRITING INSTRUCTION COMMUNITY

Discussion Applied Pedagogies Ch. 4

9/20/2016

Let's chat about Applied Pedagogies. This space is for discussion on the chapter four.

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3 Comments

Michael Greer

10/2/2016 11:27:15 am

Chapter 4 focuses on two concepts that I think are crucial in OWI courses--community and engagement. The author shares a number of practical strategies for building a learning community and enhancing engagement, including live phone conferences, synchronous chat, discussion boards, and social media.

It is a challenge to build and develop community. The best results I have had come from true collaborative projects, where students are required to either provide peer feedback or to work together in groups on writing projects.

This semester, I am using a three-part technology model: the course Blackboard site is the location for group discussions around readings, using the discussion forum tool. Most of my course content is posted on an external Weebly site, because that is easier for me to manage and update, and because the Weebly design is responsive and allows students to access course content (videos, mostly) on their mobile phones. And for peer feedback, I am using Eli Review--this is my first time using it, but it is working well so far. I find students give more focused feedback because I can direct and tailor specific questions. In the past, student feedback fell into one of two ruts: either too much local feedback, or general praise with little suggested revision. Eli helps to guide students to look for specific features and traits in a peer draft, and it also indirectly works to build community because they need each other in order to proceed with projects.

I still feel like I have a long ways to go in building a real sense of community in my online courses, after 8 years of fully online teaching. I find the students want to rely on me too much, and resist collaboration. We can all understand why that is (grades) but finding solutions is possible if we are creative.

Jessie Borgman

10/2/2016 12:41:12 pm

It's interesting to me that you said that your best community building results came from group projects. I see it, but I've also had group projects not work out well and really harm the community building goal.

I think anything that you can do to get students talking with one another helps! When they "feel" the interaction between the instructor and their peers, it "feels" more like a traditional classroom and that is exciting.

The discussion this week reminds me of my favorite Scott Warnock quote from his book Teaching Writing Online: How & Why.

"Writing instructors have a unique opportunity because writing-centered online courses allow instructors and
students to interact beyond content delivery...to build a community through electronic means"

We do have a unique opportunity if we seize it! And Girardi gives several great suggestions to help us begin building our online communities.

Jessie Borgman

10/2/2016 12:36:02 pm

This is one of the chapters I've enjoyed the most so far because I think engagement is so important in online courses. I like Girardi's main argument to think of the online space as a different animal than the face-to-face environment and to recognize these significant differences.

The focus on developing a community is also really important to me because I strive to do this in my own classes. Creating a community in an online course isn't much different than creating a community in a face-to-face course, except for effort-you've got to work harder at it!

I like her suggestion of introductory phone chats and have phone calls to help with student confidence. They realize you're a nice person and are there to help them succeed! Further, her argument for media in the online course is a good one because it breaks up how the content appears for students and I think mixing it up engages students more thoroughly in the material.

I really liked her advice on pg. 61:
"Finally, online instructors must be flexible in terms of analyzing, selecting, implementing and assessing tools that might facilitate the aforementioned goals of developing an online learning community and engaging online students."

This is good advice and important for instructors who are new to online teaching and just reading this book to gain tips and tricks. Technology can be overwhelming to both students and instructors, so being selective in the tools used for engagement is crucial.

Discussion Applied Pedagogies Ch. 4

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Discussion Applied Pedagogies Ch. 4

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