Building Communities of Discourse Online

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• Discussion establishes a sense of community as
  students communicate
• with each other daily throughout the course
  in weekly discussion forums.

• Discussion allows students to create new
  interpretations and understanding
• of the course material. Students learn from
  each other in discussion.

• Discussion offers students an opportunity to
  articulate their thoughts
• and find their voice in academic communities
  of discourse from analysis
• to argumentation and evaluation. Responses
  and replies validate the writer.

• Discussion provides students with a forum in
  which their writing will be read
• by others and sometimes elicit responses.
  This provides students with a better
• sense of audience in both informal and formal
  writing for papers.

• Discussion in online courses provides the key
  interaction between students and
• should be reflected in at least 20-40 of the
  course grade (depending on subject).

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Traditional Face-to Face Classrooms to extend
discussion beyond the spatial and temporal
boundaries of class sessions. Discussion topics
begun in class settings can be continued
throughout the week allowing for more reflection
and continuous discussion throughout the week and
weekends.
Hybrid or Blended Classes by synthesizing both
online and face-to-face classes, discussion can
be used to bridge in-class and out-of-class
learning and communication between students and
the instructor. Depending on the the design and
delivery, hybrid classes can reduce seat time,
while extending learning and communication
beyond the classroom better utilizing time.
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Online and Distant Learning Discussion can be
the heart and soul of online learning,
connecting students with their instructor and
each other. asynchronous discussion becomes the
primary forum of daily and weekly Interaction in
the online class. As the principle vehicle of
student activity, discussion should be a major
criteria of evaluation, as well as attendance.
Graduate and Undergraduate Learning Using the
graduate seminar Approach to student-centered
discussion, can be extended to a variety of
Undergraduate courses and ability level,
utilizing past experiences as well as modeling.
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• Verbal communication in written format,
  documented conversations

• informal and communicative, low-stakes writing,
  models provided, drafting ideas

• Public forum with audience Student writers
  guaranteed an audience of peers

• Asynchronous flexibility of time promotes
  reflection and threaded discussions

• Egalitarian and democratic format promotes
  student-centered learning

• Can accommodate a variety of learning styles
  individuals and small groups

• Can provide structure as well as academic
  freedom, encouraging students to
• construct their own meaning from the course
  materials and sharing these
• experiences with each other.

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The quality and quantity of interaction between
faculty and students and among Students
constitutes a significant component of the
definition of quality for any Course, whether
online or face to face. (Allen and Seaman, 2002)
Discussion is the instructional strategy most
favored by adult learners because it is
interactive and encourages active, participatory
learningDiscussion is often the heart of an
online course. (Instructional Strategies, 2007)
Online conferencing can provide ways to initiate
students into the discourse of the academic
community, equalize participation among class
members, and develop writing and thinking
skills. (Procter, 2004)
Faculty designers and facilitators of discussion
need to enable informal and trustworthy
learning spaces, where learners feel confident
and supported in working on their own and with
each other. (Gulati, 2004)
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Some uses of Discussion in teaching and learning
in the humanities

• to foster and sense of community and open
  environment Introductions

• to respond to focused questions about weekly
  content Focused Questions

• to post discoveries from cyber journeys
  (Discovery Learning)

• to summarize, analyze and evaluate course
  materials

• to stimulate critical thinking in philosophical
  analysis and debate

• to post announcements about the class
  Instructors Forum

• to promote student collaboration in student to
  student questions/responses

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Give specific directions for successful student
discussion within the course

• Word count, number and size of original
  postings. (ex- 300 words minimum)

• Word count, number and size of replies. (ex- 50
  words minimum)

• Timeframes for discussion (early in the week,
  daily, 3-4 times weekly)

• Types of responses formal, informal, citation
  of sources, editing

• Create opportunities for open-responses (for
  student-centered interests)

• Provide focused topics for response (focused
  questions on content)

• Create extra forums for introductions,
  questions about the course and other
• avenues for student collaboration and
  information.

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Establish guidelines for discussion for students
in beginning of course. Timeframe Encourage
students to post early in week and respond to
others.
Set up Discussion Forums for weekly units within
course with focused questions. Enable academic
freedom in alternative types of discussion
focused questions, Student-generated question
and responses, discovery postings from cyber
journeys.
Remain invisible Stay out of student discussion.
Post private replies to students as an observer
and evaluator, but not as a participant. Keep
discussion student- Centered and student to
student, independent of instructor.
Provide individual and group feedback to students
about their discussion postings. Offer
intermittent feedback from verbal comments to
weekly grades.
Give students the opportunity for self-assessment
in midterm and final participation grades as
part of evaluation process. Make discussion count
(20-40 of total grade)
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• Week 1 Have students post introductions and
  replies to establish community
• Establish guidelines for
  discussion and begin week 1 discussion forum
• Provide individual and group
  feedback to student postings. (positive)

• Content Weeks Continue intermittent feedback to
  students, replacing verbal
• comments with
  Weekly discussion forum grades (Gradebook)

• Midterm Assignment Participation I
  Self-Analysis for grade (100-200 pts)
• Have students cut and paste
  quotes, replies, and dates (word count)
• Give students opportunity to
  write short self analysis. Provide suggestions
• to improve discussion for the
  remainder of the semester.

• Final Assignment Participation II
  Self-Analysis for grade (100-200 pts)
• Have students cut and paste quotes,
  replies, and dates (word count)
• Give students opportunity to write
  short self analysis. Thank students
• for their contributions to
  discussion for the semester.

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ANGEL This is the most robust learning
management system for discussion. Individual
discussions can be scored using drop box and then
converted into weekly forum grades and recorded
in course grade book. Discussion forum grades are
used for purposes of online attendance many
classes at SPC.
WebCT This learning management system provides a
good medium for reading and responding to
discussion postings both publically and
privately. WebCT also provides faculty the
opportunity to view the number of items posted
and the number of postings they have read from
other students (Student Tracking in Manage Course)
Blackboard This learning management system
provides the opportunity to see read and unread
postings as well as reply threads for threaded
discussions but lacks the private reply function
available in ANGEL and WebCT.
Note Because only ANGEL offers the ability to
grade individual discussion postings, Separate
assignments drop boxes need to be made for
Participation grades using both WebCT and
Blackboard. Although both provide a window to
student postings, only WebCT provides a the
number of other postings that students have read.
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A real strength of the class is that it is not
limited to just the work in the book or modules,
because you can go out and find your own stories
and subjects that interest you and by doing so
you bring another resource to the entire class so
they can participate and learn more about the
same subject. Humanities (2007)
I have dedicated my cyber journey discoveries to
topics that have truly sparked my interest I
have visited many web sites that I havent
necessarily written about, but still wanted to
learn more about. I felt very satisfied when I
received 10 replies back from the Module 6 post.
It felt good to know that others were moved by
it. I have made responses to others post that I
felt partial to. Humanities (2007)
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I have gotten so much more out of this class
than I ever expected and the discussion area was
a great opportunity to interact with the other
students and also learn from them. Humanities
(2007)
Who would have thought there could be so many
distinctions made over so many things, I guess
not I. This has been a valuable journey but I
cannot say that my head still does not completely
swim when I get in the middle of all the learned
points made. I do feel richer for the experience
and perhaps a little wiser. Philosophy (2007)
I really enjoyed the discussion during the
second half of the class. I think that we all had
warmed up to each other and figured out that we
don't always have to agree! Philosophy (2007)
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Students are given the opportunity to include a
narrative self-assessment in addition to sending
their postings and replies in the Participation I
Assignment. The following example reflects the
essence of discussion in learning from others.
I went through all the postings that I wrote and
the reply posts, and it is so amazing to see how
far, not only myself, but everyone in the class
has come to understand philosophy so much better.
As you get used to the online learning style and
the many philosophical methods, it becomes so
much easier to understand and get involved in
these postings. There is always going to be at
least one student who seems to know and
understand the subject so much better than you,
so you have to take advantage of the opportunity
and learn from them. Hopefully others do the same
as I do I keep a few students in mind and am
sure to always study their posts to help me learn
a little more than I would have otherwise.
(Philosophy, 2007)
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I was pleased while assessing the quality of my
posts. All of the weekly discussion topic
postings had external sources to support or
contrast my views, something that I noticed only
a few of us participating in the discussion forum
take the time to do. This is very important when
attempting to write at a collegiate level! All
of my posts were on time or early with the
progression of the course, and I replied as soon
as possible to other students postings. My
replies usually were in the first part of the
week rather than the latter part, although there
were a couple weeks when I replied later than
usual because of an onslaught of tests.
Additionally, I believe all my posts/replies met
and exceeded the suggested word requirement. I
didnt count the words each time, because they
were always so thorough that it didnt seem
necessary to count them. I feel I am gaining a
wealth of knowledge from this class so far.
Before taking this class, I had little knowledge
of philosophy and less desire to learn more
about it. At this point in my college career, I
admittedly view any class that is not math or
science as a waste of money, because it does not
benefit my major. However, I think that the
ideas presented and engaged in discussion are
note-worthy and deserve attention. I also like
the fact that learning about philosophy is giving
me tools to defend my own personal philosophy.
(Fall, 2007) Honors Philosophy
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References
Allen I.E., and Seaman J., Entering the
Mainstream The Quality and Extent of
Online Education in the United States, 2003 and
2004. Needham, Mass The Sloan Consortium,
Novemeber 2004
Gulati, Shalni, Constructivism and Emerging
Online Learning Pedagogy 2004 Annual
Conference of the Universities Association for
Continuing Education. University of Leeds,
London, UK.
Instructional Strategies for Online Courses,
Illinois Online Network, University of
Illinois, 2007. http//www.ion.illinois.edu/
resources/tutorials/pedagogy/instructionalstrategi
es.asp
Procter, Margaret. The Instructors Role in
Online Conferencing, 2004 University of
Toronto, Session 38, Teaching, Learning and
Research in Today's University.
http//www.utoronto.ca/writing/conferencing.html
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Contact Information

• Dr. Kevin R. Morgan
• morgan.kevin_at_spcollege.edu
• 727-394-6198
• Mary Kennedy Graphic Artist
• kennedy.m_at_spcollege.edu
• St. Petersburg College
• https//www.spcollege.edu/
• Seminole Campus, eCampus, Honors College
• http//www.spcollege.edu/ecampus/
• Funded by Project Eagle
• http//www.spcollege.edu/eagle/