Technologies that Promote Social Learning in Online Courses (Part 1)

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I'm sure you've heard the phrase "social learning" being tossed around in the online education discourse for quite sometime. What exactly is social learning? Basically, it is comprised of three situations - 

* students helping one another learn

* students inspiring and motivating each other
* students teaching each other

In the online environment, we are the facilitators and the course designers of the learning space that students find themselves in. To that end, how can we create online learning environments that encourage social learning? In this post, I will talk about the MOST POPULAR course activity that promotes social learning and is the easiest to implement in courses.

4 Types of Student Behaviors in Online Discussion Forums (Part 2)

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In Part 1 of this series, I talked about the behaviors I observed from my students in my weekly discussion forums. I identified four behaviors of my online students, namely - leaders, reactors, lurkers and slackers. So, as I ponder my students' behaviors online, I ask the question: Why do they behave this way? I used to think that student behavior in my online forums was mostly determined by their personalities. From my dissertation research and research "in the classroom", I've found that student behavior online has more to do with their motivation than with their offline personalities.  For instance, many of my "leader" students have told me that they are really shy in person. So, what makes them assume the "leader" behavior in the discussion forums?  Interesting.  I've continually looked at what motivates my students to participate in my courses (in particular, the weekly discussion forums) and how their participation affects their overall learning experience in my courses. Here's what I think. 

4 Types of Student Behaviors in Online Discussion Forums (Part 1)

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For my dissertation research, I studied the behaviors of users in online communities for 8 years.  I conducted a series of "ethnographic" studies on communities in which people shared career advice, shared personal stories, supported each other through hard times and tried new technologies together. I found that these learning communities provided support and enrichment opportunities for the participants. While teaching online, I've realized that the discussion forums in my courses have provided my students with the same opportunities as those participants I studied all those years ago.

8 Ways to Create Engaging Discussion Forums (Poster)

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In the series, Creating Engaging Discussion Forums (Part 1 of 2),  I talked about the different types of discussion formats in Moodle and 8 ways to create engaging discussion forums for your students.

For your convenience, here is a 8.5" x 11” poster to download as a PDF file. I would suggest putting this poster in a sheet protector. You could use this on a bulletin board or in a binder for easy reference when creating discussion forums for your courses. 

Click to download

3 Ways to Use a Wiki in Your Course

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In my online courses, I use wikis in conjunction with weekly discussion forums.  My students love the wiki assignments because it gives them a chance to create their own content instead of just responding to a discussion question.  Wikis are a collection of articles about a subject. Depending on your learning management system (LMS), users can add text, images, audio and even YouTube videos to the wiki.

In online courses, wiki assignments are always a fun and creative way to get students to learn a subject. Wikis enhance student learning by getting them to utilize deeper levels of cognition and engagement with a subject.  For my courses, I use wikis in a variety of ways. Some of the wikis my classes have completed include -

Creating Engaging Discussion Forums (Part 1 of 2)

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 http://pixabay.com/en/exchange-of-ideas-debate-discussion-222789/

Most discussion forums are the “lifeline” of any online course. They are places where students can interact with each other and the instructor in order to build community.  Forums are one place where instructors can build a presence by engaging with their students in a more conversational and relaxed way.  While the tips in this article can be applied to many LMS's, here we'll talk about the discussion forums in the Moodle LMS.

Creating Engaging Discussion Forums (Part 2 of 2)

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In the first article of this series, I talked about the different types of discussion formats available in Moodle.  Now, let's discuss 8 ways to create more engaging discussion forums. There are a few must-haves you'll need to make your discussion forums more engaging and at the same time, easier for you to administer.