Creating Online Classroom Discussions

Background

Students communicate more often than we give them credit, although it may not be in a traditional method. They use text messages and online blogs and forums as their primary method of communicating with one another.

Therefore, it makes sense to use the tools they are so familiar with. Blogs are defined as online journals that can be accessed by others. Comments are often encouraged.

Blogging can be used as a tool for reflection. After concepts and/or skills have been taught, students can be required to keep online blogs (journals) that can be read by others that may choose to comment on the writer's blog.

Forums are defined as online discussions with entries and perspectives of many individuals.  The variety of topics students choose to write about are as numerous as the students themselves. As teachers we can develop discussions by posting guiding questions and requiring students to respond.

Regardless of the subject or grade you teach online forums and blogs can be a valuable tools for students to begin to internalizing concepts and skills, not to mention practice writing and communication.

Let's view a blog created by a teacher at Hanks High School

James O'Keeffe - Hanks High School

What are some of the characteristics of this forum?

What types of questions did Mr. O'Keeffe pose?

What types of responses have students made?

What are other ways that a forum could be used in your classroom?

Open-Ended Questioning:

It's important to use open-ended questioning strategies to develop on-going discussions. Beginning with 2-3 great questions can make all the difference between a dynamic discussion and one that never really develops.

Ask students to answer the guiding questions and then to respond to other posts as well. Teachers should be prepared to respond to students regularly and to post further questions as needed. Teachers can choose to focus on one or two elements or concepts per week and then move to the next section, chapter, or concept the next week, while leaving all previous posts available for review by students before testing occurs or before assigning the final activity associated with the section, chapter or concept.

Creating your own discussions:

Think about lessons and concepts you currently teach in your classroom. You may wish to focus on your S cope and Sequence.

Develop a discussion that will enhance your current lesson. It doesn't matter what the subject. It need only be based on a discussion you would normally have in your classroom. Use Bloom's Taxonomy to help you develop high level, open-ended questions. You can also use reference Bloom's Sample Questions.  Write 2-3 good questions for each section, chapter, or concept you'll be teaching during one unit.

Once you have created your questions we will upload them to your web page and discuss how to manage it.

Log into SchoolCenter

  You can access your log-in by following these steps:

1.   Go to http://www2.yisd.net/

2.   Scroll down to Resources (found on the right side)

3.   Click the button for Teachers

4.   Under Web Applications find and click on  SchoolCenter Log-in

5.   Enter your user name and password (the same as your lotus notes log-in)

6. On the right, under Site Access, Click on your name  

Adding a Forum to Your Website

1.   Click on Edit in the menu bar and select Add a Page

2.   Choose the Forum from the list under Pages

3.   Then click Add Page

4.   On the General Tab name the Page next to Page Title 

5.   Look at the check mark next to Manually Approve Posts (If you choose this  option posts will not be displayed until you see them and allow them. This is a good idea to use to ensure that students don't leave inappropriate messages or that your forum doesn't get spammed)

6.   On the Details Tab place a check mark next to Allow Public to Subscribe to this Page (if you choose this option it will allow students to receive emails notifications when new posts have been added. To subscribe students will click on the subscribe button at the bottom of the page)

7.   Next click Done

Adding a Description or Disclaimer to your Page:

1.   You will want to add a short description of your forum so under Edit and select Add Picture & Text

2.   Next click on the pencil icon to edit. Select Edit Content Box

3.   In the window that appears you want to type the description of your forum

4.   Once complete click Done

5.   Your description will now appear at the top of your page

You have the ability to hide your Forum until you are ready to use it. Simply use the Details Tab found under Page Settings and click next to Hide link in Navigation. You can also hide questions until you are ready for students to see them as you will see below.

Adding Open-Ended Questions to your Forum:

  Begin by clicking on Edit and select Manage Categories

  In the window that appears click New

  Give your Category a title (Delete (New Category) and type your name in the field. Each category could be a chapter from your novel, a section in your text book,  a period of time in history or whatever fits the concepts you are teaching)

  Next click Save

  To add the next Category click New again and add a second category name just as you did above

Continue this process until you have added all the categories you need

Once finished click Done

You'll now see a new window that displays your categories, click Done

When the window closes it will appear as if nothing has been added Don't Fret, we are not finished yet!

1.Click on Edit and select Add New Board

2.In the General Tab choose the Category you wish to add your question

3.Under Title add the title of your question (Delete (New Category) and type your title in the field. The title should cover the topic of your question)

4.  In the Description field type your open-ended question. (Be aware that it will only accept a certain number of characters so you may have to re-word your question until it fits. Play with it to see the number of characters it accepts. You won't actually know until you save it and some of the characters are missing... L )

5.Now click on the Options Tab

6.You will see three options that must be selected if you want your questions to be viewable by your students. (You can leave them unchecked in questions that you don't want your students to have access to yet. In order to make them available you'll  need to go back to this area and select the three options)

7. Once you have selected the three options click Save and then Done, Done, Done

8.Continue the same process as above to add all other open-ended questions have been added

9.Now when you click on View Mode you will see your categories and questions

10.  All a student needs to do is go to your website and click on the question he/she wishes to respond to and then click New Thread

11.  Don't forget that you have selected Manually Approve Posts so they will not appear until you approve them by going back to edit and you will see the number of posts, click on them, read them and then approve or not

  Once done your class discussion is ready to use for next year!

Valuable Resources:

Online Discussions:

eModerators

Interaction in the Online Classroom

The Online Classroom by Leslie Bowman

Open-Ended Questioning Resources:

Educator World - Open-ended questions stretch academic and social learning.

Practical Assessment, Research and Evaluation

Reading This month, our children will be focusing on TEK 4.12: Recognizing and analyzing plot, setting and problem resolution.  This first week, our class is focusing on setting.  Setting is usually defined as where and when a story takes place.  But in 4th grade, they will not only identify the time and place of a story, but will be expected to explain and understand how it contributes to the meaning of the story. For example, if a story takes place in a forested area, the reader would need to be able to explain how the story is affected by the forest and how (and if) it might change if the story took place in a different environment. Once the students have learned about setting this week, look for questions about setting in their homework center next week. 

Language Arts Language Arts is divided into two main components: editing and composition.  This week and for the next couple of weeks in editing, we will be focusing on TEK 4.16, capitalization, punctuation and penmanship.  In particular this week, the use of commas.  There are nine times when commas are used in the English language.  1.)  To separate items in a list, 2.) to separate city and state, 3.) to separate date and year, 4.) after the salutation of a letter, 5.) the closing of a letter, 6.) to separate two complete sentences connected by a conjunction, 7.) to separate a quote from the rest of the sentence, 8.) after directly addressing a specific person in a sentence, and 9.) when using an appositive (Mrs. Rubert, a teacher at Desertaire Elementary, had very high standards for her children).

Spelling skill for this week:  "i before e except after c" and "ei" making the long a sound.  Words:  receipt, believe, conceit, siege, neighbor, reign.

  In composition, we are studying TEK 4.15C, using language to describe (figurative language).  In particular this week, we are learning about similes.  When a person uses a simile, they compare two unlike things using the words "like" or "as".  For example, your child might be described as being "as sweet as honey".  During this week and into next week, our children will be exploring the effectiveness of the similes they choose.  Our children learn not to "force" similes into their work, but to have them flow smoothly into the language where it contributes to the overall meaning they are trying to convey.

Math  This week, we have been studying number concepts, TEK 4.1, using place value to read, write, compare and order whole numbers through the millions place.  In particular this week, our children will be expected to place 7 digit whole numbers into ascending and descending order.  Our children will be given a list of four numbers that they will have to put in order, greatest to least and vice versa using a place value chart. 

Science TEK 4.1A, demonstrating safe practices during field and laboratory investigations is our focus for this week.  We will begin by identifying scientific tools, such as graduated cylinders, goggles, thermometers, etc. and how to safely handle them.  Ask your child for their list of tools (a page with pictures of tools and their use), or see the "You gotta have this" section of this web page for an uploaded version that you can keep for yourself.