ONLINE DISCUSSIONS
Covelli, B. (2017) Online discussion boards: The practice of building community for adult learners. The Journal of Continuing Higher Education, 65, 139-145. DOI: 10.1080/07377363.2017.1274616
This article looks at discussion boards in the context of older learners, but its ideas are applicable to all online learning. In particular, it outlines the community of inquiry framework, which maintains that online learning happens through three interconnected lenses of teaching presence, social presence, and cognitive presence (cf. Garrison, Anderson, and Archer 2000). Covelli maintains that all three of these lenses intersect in the discussion board, making it a crucial aspect of online learning. -EF
Online Discussions with Canvas LMS – Mark Boothe and Travis Thurston
This 24-minute video discusses how to make online discussions engaging, and although it frames the topic within Canvas, the ideas are foundational for all online discussions and don’t require Canvas for implementation. One of the most helpful ideas in here is the idea that students should explicate what they are doing in their discussion board posts: is the post adding additional information? Is it asking for clarification? Is it offering support or encouragement? The video discusses these explications as ‘digital powerups,’ and they can be linked to Bloom’s taxonomic terms, e.g. #remember, #understand, #apply. Cf. 12:53 in the video. The video also introduces the idea of a community of inquiry and offers a large number of studies for further reading. -EF
McRay, J., Goertzen, B., and Klaus, K. (2016) Student-moderated discussion boards in a graduate online course. Journal of Leadership Education, 15 (1), 150-161. DOI: 1012806/V15/I1/A6
Like the video above, McRay et al. also introduce and use the community of inquiry framework. In this paper, they discuss the role of graduate students in moderating discussion boards. The authors outline a system of participants and discussants (the moderators, who also propose a discussion thread). With a considerable amount of preparation, including meeting with the instructor well in advance of their discussion, students were able to run meaningful discussions and reported learning a lot from the experience. Like the video above, an advantage of this text is the emphasis it places on transparency, in this case, of role: how is it different to be a discussant vs. a participant? Asking students to explicate that will help them consider discussions holistically and help them see where the discussions deepen. -EF
COMMUNITY AND ENGAGEMENT
Burch, T., & Nagy, J. (2007) Tipping points in online-mediated learning environments: strategies for student engagement in a conceptual framework for e-learning. International Journal of Learning, 13(12), 7-15.
This paper is interesting because it looks at the impact of student engagement on not just the engaged students’ learning outcomes but also on the students who interact less in the online environment. They show how the community of inquiry is built from students who engage at different levels, and how it benefits all those students. -EF
Moore-Adams, B., & Warnick, S. (2016, March 21-26) Establishing presence and community in the online classroom. [Paper presentation]. Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education, Savannah, Georgia, USA.
This paper has a good lit review of foundational readings on instructor presence and building community in the online classroom. It encourages instructors to consider not just their own presence in an online classroom but also the virtual classroom as a whole, in order to assist in the construction of community. -EF
Snyder, Martha. (2014) Five Ideas to Engage Online Learners. [YouTube Video]. Nova Southeastern University’s Best Practices in Online Learning Annual Fall Forum.
Based in the Community of Inquiry framework, instructional designer Marti Snyder presents five ways to increase engagement for students in online courses. These include student-led discussions, audio and textual feedback, problem-based learning, and others. -AT
ACCESSIBILITY
Dolmage, J. (2015) Universal Design: Places to Start. [Appendix]. Disability Studies Quarterly, 35 (2).
Dolmage, a prominent scholar in Disability Studies, provides a long list of ways to adhere to principles of Universal Design For Learning in your courses. The list includes ideas on making accessible spaces, fostering accessible interaction, and ensuring accessible delivery, among other ideas. -AT
Nielsen, D. (2013) Universal Design in First-Year Composition: Why Do We Need It, How Can We Do It? CEA Forum 42 (2).
Nielsen provides a detailed overview of Universal Design for Learning, in particular its relevance for a first-year composition course. She then details how she incorporates UDL into her FYC courses, including through distribution of information and interaction with students. -AT
Womack, A. (2015). Accessible Syllabus. Tulane University.
This incredibly useful resource by a team of educators and students at Tulane University helps users to create a fully accessible syllabus, from the design to the language and rhetoric used in the document. -AT
