Attached is the PowerPoint for A conversation about conversation within the online course

1. Michele Forte
Thalia MacMillan

2.  Asynchronous online courses
◦ Level of control: online versus face to face
◦ “Removed” presence

3.  When students and the instructor are online – are
they online at the same time? Does that matter?
 Instructor is guide on the side
 Sense of anonymity

4.  People use the dinner party metaphor – that
the instructor is the host
 What are the assumptions of a dinner party?

5.  How do assumptions effect the guide-on-
the-side theory?
 How do the assumptions of a dinner party
effect co-hosting with students?
 Is it appropriate to stop a topic at a dinner
party?

6.  Human Services courses have their own
particular rhythms, topics, conversations
 Courses deal with issues connected to
historically disenfranchised individuals
◦ Some of whom may be students
◦ The conversations may be personal and volatile
because they address issues of diversity and
distribution of resources, etc.

7.  In CHS, the responsibility for instructors is
somewhat different than other areas of study as
we need to speak to . . . :
◦ Human services guidelines
◦ Ethical frameworks
◦ Practical applications
 . . . . . all in our communications and potential
training of students
 We sometimes ask ourselves – why is this student
in CHS?

8.  They have personal experiences
◦ From their own experiences
◦ Family member
◦ Close friend
 These experiences are unique and are brought to
the course
◦ How do we highlight them and make each person’s
experience heard?
 Need to name and talk about the experience in
an academic setting (but not necessarily in an
academic way)

9.  What motivates a student to respond the way
they do on discussion boards?
◦ Sound intellectual?
◦ Assumption about what something means
◦ Allegiance
◦ Try to ignore
◦ Not knowing how to talk about it?

11.  Scenario 1: Hierarchical comments
 Scenario 2: Offensive comment
 Scenario 3: Bullying comment
 Scenario 4: Non-validation
 Scenario 5: Path of least resistance

12.  Scenario 1: Hierarchical comments
 A student’s sister with MS and a classmate
says that’s nice but my child has autism

13.  Model an appropriate response
 Name the issue of hierarchy and point out
how limited it is
 Connect the issue to course content or
practical field experience
 Diffuse with positive solution

14.  Scenario 2 – Offensive comment
 Student says “Why can’t people just feed their
kids better – why don’t they care?!”

15.  Try to hear what the student is saying
 Unpack the statement with respect to course
content
 Seek a balanced response
 Reframe the problem
 Attend to statement and anticipate responses
 Ask an open-ended probing question

16.  Scenario 3 – Bullying comment
 A student who makes comments to each and
every person’s posting – trying to make their
thoughts more prevalent than others

17.  Assume that a student
doesn’t know what
he/she is doing or how
it affects the
conversation
 Provide ongoing
formative feedback
 “Take it outside” - Talk
to the student privately
about the issue – name
it

18.  Scenario 4: Non-validation
 No one responds to a student’s thoughts on
the DB
 OR “when a point has a thread of discussion
and all of a sudden the point gets dropped by
all”

19.  Determine when did the student post to the
DB
 As an instructor – raise points in the
student’s posting and make it a conversation
piece
 Highlight connections with other students
 Analyze why did the discussion stop
◦ Natural evolution?
◦ Offensive comment or a comment that no one could
respond to?

20.  Scenario 5 – Path of least resistance
 Students that may be nervous, afraid to
correct, or engage a fellow classmate

21.  Attend and anticipate problems
◦ Especially in the beginning of the semester
 Model an appropriate response
 Respond/reframe thoughts

22.  Do we go off topic?
◦ Is that a bad thing?
◦ Is that a good thing?
 Does it derail, silence, or disrupt the
conversation?
 Has it made the class come together more as
a group or to each other?

23.  Don’t make assumptions about student
postings or intentions in postings
 Don’t be afraid to “name an issue” for
students if it appears
 Reframe/redirect conversation if needed

24.  Define what it means to “participate” online in a
discussion board
◦ Not Facebook or text message
◦ Academic discourse
◦ Validate personal experience within the context of a
larger academic conversation
◦ Don’t always have to agree with topics – couch within
course content or outside material
 Engagement
 Validation

25.  Summarize and comment on student
postings
 Certain things you may need to “take it
outside”
 Connect discussions to course content or
outside examples within a larger professional
context

26.  When it comes to the discussion boards,
better to be mindful than obsessed
 The dynamic of the conversation is important
to learning and should be examined

27. Any questions??