There are many steps and for a seemingly simple bowl to be created; shaping, glazing, and firing before the cup of tea can be shared and enjoyed.
1. Shaping: Your forum can be about anything; it is a piece of clay with no shape until your hands form it. Take time to shape it carefully, the way a potter would; work with the clay and mold it carefully. You also have to let the bowl become the shape it is going to become; allowing your students to feel safe, to express doubts and confusion, to build on each others' ideas, is crucial to a meaningful discussion. As with clay, you have some control, but not absolute control.
2. Glazing: Allow your students to feel they are helping to add beauty to the discussion. Find ways to include visuals (such as we have done here) to allow students to express themselves beyond words, and add visual engagement...one of the best features of teaching online. Watch as the plain piece of pottery you started with becomes glazed and imprinted with the singular thoughts and ideas of those students, that forum.
3. Firing: When you put a pot into the kiln, you don't know what will emerge. The circumstances of the heat changes everything -that is one of the unpredictable aspects that the potter both relishes and dreads. As soon as your discussion starts, the glaze you thought would be brown turns red; the shape changes slightly because of the heat. Interactions too evolve and shift in unexpected directions. It is what it is, and you can experience the uniqueness of each piece as they emerge from the kiln, even (or perhaps mostly) if they weren't what you were expecting.
(This is a tea bowl made by my friend Chika Oumi.)
DISCUSSION FORUM TIPS
First and foremost, do not confuse a discussion forum with a quiz! Pose questions that have more than one answer. Here is a link to some great ideas on active discussion forums that resulted from Stephanie Delaney's presentation at a recent NW eLearn Conference that I was lucky enough to attend: Beyond the Discussion Board: Ten Tips for Engaging Online StudentsBelow is an infographic I created as a reminder that at the heart of every great online course is....heart.
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