The Online Forum
Our experience in class with the online forum revealed some interesting things. Our assignment was to read some articles on forums and then to use the forum created by Alberto to discuss the relative merits and problems with forums as a learning tool.
It seemed to me that many people who decried the value of online forums actually neglected to participate in the forum in the manner in which it was meant to be used to promote learning. Rather they participated as if it were simply a place to complain about the place that was offered as a way for them to complain about what they were complaining about. In other words, it was a self-fulfilling prophecy. Successful use of a forum for instruction probably warrants a little extra motivational effort on the part of the instructor.
It appeared they didn't like forums because it required them to interact with others and express their ideas coherently and be willing to engage in a discussion and, basically, it wasn't worth their time because they couldn't guarantee an exchange on their input. It really boiled down to not being willing to take the time to engage the process to see if it would work.
Imagine if the project had been instead: Over the next 60 minutes talk to everybody in class and find out how they feel about online forums and give them your thoughts about their thoughts and ask them questions and then let's write down everything everyone said. Such a task would be ludicrous. But, with the forum, you can, in my opinion, engage in learning discussions much more efficiently than in a classroom setting. You can engage the thoughts that interest you and get to them at your leisure. Coming back every day is not that hard, it just takes a little time. But considering that all the forum work was done outside of class, I think there was a lot of beneficial exchange that was able to happen that couldn't have happened in a typical class.
Additionally, one doesn't have to engage the topics that are irrelevant to you or that so often in class time seem to waste most of the class' time because it is material that just one individual is struggling with rather than the whole class.
Many of the arguments made against an online forum could be made to writing papers, doing independent study projects, any manner of thing where feedback is not immediate. And perhaps there is truth to the arguments about the way these things are handled that makes them ineffective.
I may have to revisit this post. I have some vague inklings about these thoughts that aren't congealing right now.
It seemed to me that many people who decried the value of online forums actually neglected to participate in the forum in the manner in which it was meant to be used to promote learning. Rather they participated as if it were simply a place to complain about the place that was offered as a way for them to complain about what they were complaining about. In other words, it was a self-fulfilling prophecy. Successful use of a forum for instruction probably warrants a little extra motivational effort on the part of the instructor.
It appeared they didn't like forums because it required them to interact with others and express their ideas coherently and be willing to engage in a discussion and, basically, it wasn't worth their time because they couldn't guarantee an exchange on their input. It really boiled down to not being willing to take the time to engage the process to see if it would work.
Imagine if the project had been instead: Over the next 60 minutes talk to everybody in class and find out how they feel about online forums and give them your thoughts about their thoughts and ask them questions and then let's write down everything everyone said. Such a task would be ludicrous. But, with the forum, you can, in my opinion, engage in learning discussions much more efficiently than in a classroom setting. You can engage the thoughts that interest you and get to them at your leisure. Coming back every day is not that hard, it just takes a little time. But considering that all the forum work was done outside of class, I think there was a lot of beneficial exchange that was able to happen that couldn't have happened in a typical class.
Additionally, one doesn't have to engage the topics that are irrelevant to you or that so often in class time seem to waste most of the class' time because it is material that just one individual is struggling with rather than the whole class.
Many of the arguments made against an online forum could be made to writing papers, doing independent study projects, any manner of thing where feedback is not immediate. And perhaps there is truth to the arguments about the way these things are handled that makes them ineffective.
I may have to revisit this post. I have some vague inklings about these thoughts that aren't congealing right now.
Comments
Some learners in a face-to-face or online setting may have already decided to check out of the learning process.