An effective way of managing the discussion board is via being an "on the side" instructor.
It's important to set guidelines for online discussions. The guidelines should be in the course syllabus and presented at the beginning of the course so students know what is expected of them when responding to questions or student comments. It's important that the guidelines are specific, length of responses, content, not repeating what has already been stated, etc.
I have not used rubric. I tried once using it to score discussion boards but I found it confusing.
I have to reconsider scoring by rubric.
Any experience that could help me in this regard?
I learned that rubrics can be a useful way to not only assess student work but also clearly articulate your expectations for the assignment.
rubrics are new to me communication is important one needs to use a rubric to communcate the importance of learning the subject and understanding to the student that this is a key to grading their performance without alienating them
Rubrics are a useful tool to use when communicating course expectations as well as to evaluate students' participation.
Guide on the side > Sage on the stage
Rubrics are helpful for consistency in grading posts and other assignments. Making posts compulsory (ahem) may result in low quality posts.
The use of a well written rubric will faciliate consistentcy for grading as well as clear intructions for students on what is expected.
Effectively measuring the evaluation is to be able to apply a rubric that details all the progress and weaknesses of the students, so that as an instructor they can point out their strengths and work on the weaknesses in the future.
CTC
I have used a rubric many times in teaching courses.
I will say that designing the rubric is a challenge and I always past it by other peers to make sure it was going to be effective.
Use a rubric with commuincation so there is no questions as to what is expected out of the sfudens. Have the students review the conduct code so they also know what they should be following.
It is important to establish guidelines for participation to encourage students to participate in an online environment. Also useful to use a rubric when grading student responses to online discussions. It is also important to encourage a sense of community among the students.
Providing an opportunity for communication and collaboration among students is important in an online learning platform. As an instructor is important to have clear Rubrics in place.
A rubric provides fair and consistent assessment criteria. I intend to try Rubistar.
It is important to utilize a rubric to provide consistent feedback to students.
The importance of finding a balance when posting for students, being sure provide enough direction and feed back, but not too much information.
Communication with students and between students is important to learning. Setting guidelines from the beginning will help the learning process and create a sense of community and engagement among the students.
Online Courses, just like F2F Courses will require Instructors to have conflict resolution skills to deal with issues that arise between students and, students and the instructor. Having a well thought Rubric and a Code of Conduct can allow the Instructor to refer the students back to when conflict arises and will help take the emotion out of the response.
Falling back onto the keyword of "communication." Students want to know that what they are saying is heard, and if we as instructors are not consistently checking and providing feedback students can feel like it is pointless to work in a discussion board. In regards to grading, following the rubric consistently will yield the best results.
Instructors of online courses need to develop techniques that promote a feeling of community through effective communication and opportunities for collaboration. Use of rubrics can help provde a formal, fair, and consistent way of grading online communication.
