Hi, When I am interacting with students in a discussion forum or posting my evaluative comments in their gradebook I work very hard to give them individualized feedback and to extend their learning. My quandry is that I tend to be more expansive when concentrating on making connections and yet I also want very much to convey a few key points that are not lost in a lengthier discourse. I am still working on creating that fine line between personalized and thoughtful content and ensuring that the recipient will take away my key ideas and suggestions. Do any of you… >>>

I've found (and I'm sure you can relate to this) that with the online instruction mode the mix of student demographics creates a problem when presenting materials and discussion. My "solution" is to break the online "chat" demonstration/lecture into "chunks" (segments), where I will cater to each age group so that it keeps them from becoming easily bored. I also host a weekly "workshop" where students can attend if they have any specific issues that need handling, and in each case I can then gear the discussion to the appropriate level. This seems to work well, although certainly not perfect,… >>>

I have found that the discussion rubrics in the canned portion of our course can be a bit too vague for fine grading. I have added some rules of my own to the syllabus...for example...one rubric we use states, "original post that answers the question and submitted by Wednesday" 20 points. "two original posts in response to your fellow students that are more in content than 'I agree', 'You are right', etc." 2.5 points a piece. Not quite a clear and concise explanation. SO I add in the syllabus that proper grammar is required. Also, if it is a science… >>>