Reply to Lawrence Bufalino's post: I agree, I am doing sychronous teaching right now and this has given me some good strategies.
It is important to treat others the way I would want to be treated - with diginity when being criticized; remember to motivate and instill confidence when signals are given and to promote participation when students display a lack of interest.
The guidelines need to be clear and concise and continually coaching needs to be provided.
Asynchronous discussion is preferred to synchronous. For async discussion, more than just a few, but no more than forty students should participate. For synchronous (chat) five or six is the limit.
Using tact to preserve learners' positive experience is key.
Feedback should always encourage more participation and further engagement in the course.
I learned the difference in asynchronous and synchronous discussions in e-learning. Also, feedback should be provided in a timely manner and in a tone, it does not damage a student's dignity.
Feedback from peers as well as from faculty is essential.
In thinking about communication by e mail with high school students, it would be easy for the student to misunderstand your comments. Body language is a huge part of communication. Even when emailing peers, ideas do not come across as intended. I just feel that this is something I will need to be aware of.
Online discussion is challenge. Great information for some tips and rules.
I think the author was right on when he mentioned keeping in a momentum in the discussion by having the student involved and participating with their ideas and thoughts. I think when the student contributes his or her thoughts the student is more likely to learn more and at the same time reflect and use critical thinking skills to give a response. The student can also build a sense of belonging and feel more at ease to participate or ask questions.
Prefer asynchronous based on description that it allows some self pacing.
Engaging Learners
According to the reading information it is important to identify the various types of learning styles with the goal of establishing an environment for everyone to actively participate and learn. Coordinating learning activities in such a way as to "lure" specific types of learners into participating is an idea that seems to be good to use as a tool. Group projects is a great example of this. However, those independent learners and those learners who are competetive or avoidant present such a variance that makes group learning seem really experimental. I'm sure that in any group setting these learning styles would still be visible in individuals. It's always interesting to see the outcomes of the parings also.
How important it is to provide adequate feedback.
Good distinctions between synchronous and asynchronous
When doing discussions, it is very important to be encouraging to students. We must also pay attention to the time limits of the students. Asynchronous discussion better than synchronous.
One of the key ways to engage the students in the online learning process is through discussion. It is important to encourage participation so that you are getting feedback as to how the students are learning and give them feedback to further their understanding of the materials.
Synchronous and asynchronous learning does depend on the instructor and the student. I do think that is has a lot to do with participation and engagement that the instructor can provide.
Knowing the different learning types are very helpful. It can help me understand students more. Also, how to help keep my students engaged and to make sure not to keep a discussion going in a chat box with a group of students
One of the best ways to keep students engaged in a discussion topic is to provde requirements for the studnet to post an intiial post along with a number of responses to their peers. You can also make a requirement for the word length of their post.
It is important to have an understanding of how each of your e-learners understands the course material. Not every student learns the same way. This is very important to understand.
It seems to me that both types of conversations have grat value in an online setting. I delight in the idea that a quiet face to face student will find ther voice in an online forum, as competition to speak is minimized. I will further explore placing discussion boards in my classes online.
