Our front yard garden is something fairly invisible to me as I walk past it daily from the house to my car. Last weekend was the first time this year for me to actually step into our garden with the intent of improving it. The weather was perfect for gardening; an early spring day that makes you want to hold on to the warm sun and never let go. As I bent to begin weeding one area, my eye was caught by a huge dandelion in another. After I had removed it, I looked up to see another group of waving yellow dandelions. There were a lot more yellow dandelions than any other flower in our yard, and as maneuvered from one to the next, I was struck at how aspects of my once carefully-planned yard were simply not working.
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Removing the Dandelions
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It wasn't just the proliferation of bright dandelions - that was just Spring's way of saying hello. But I suddenly realized that I had been trying to make the moss section by our front door work for almost 10 years....and it was still a mossy mess. It had never been clear before, but suddenly it became clear to me that I needed to stop spending my energy arguing with it, and to try something new. I began to dig it up.
Teaching - especially online teaching - is like that. We need to keep weeding our garden and adjusting for things that aren't working. We can't expect to set up a course, and leave it to run as-is, quarter after quarter, without seriously contemplating how to improve it as we use it. The online tool that was so amazing when you first implemented it...have you looked to see what other tool may now be available that is even more fitting for your students? The students who got lost in your second module...maybe they needed clearer directions on what to do. And that quiz that no one seems to be successful in...perhaps there is another way to assess student understanding.
Spring quarter is almost here. Time to weed our gardens.
When
our statewide system implemented the Canvas LMS, one of the most
compelling offerings was the ability for students to join a discussion
verbally -with a recording or video - rather than having to type their
thoughts. Since many of our students are not native English speakers -
and because writing is often the most difficult area to master - I felt
this would be an incredible offering for community colleges. However,
when I look at discussion forums in various classes, I can see why
getting students to participate is still a challenge. Many instructors
are still getting used to the video format themselves, and many view the
form as a mini-quiz tool than as an actual discussion. I believe the
discussion forum can often be the seed from which the course grows, and I
also believe that creating successful discussion forums is akin to a
fine art, like making a tea bowl.
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 Students
Below is an infographic I created as a reminder that at the heart of every great online course is....heart.
