Components Needed to Keep The Discussion Going

“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.”

-Benjamin Franklin

In developing an online course, an administrator’s most important task is creating a high-quality learning environment. The environment should be interactive and collaborative, one where there is give and take between the administrator and the student. The administrator needs to make it easier for the students to engage in online discussions. Create a solid instructional strategy with clear learning objectives and outcome. Deliberately offer carefully selected content and methods which students can apply to their course work (this is where discussions come into play).

Get the Students to Participate – Create an environment in which all participants have the opportunity to learn, and in which the class explores issues and ideas in-depth from a variety of perspectives.

Create Effective Discussion Boards – The discussion board is a commonly used tool in online training. These boards promote student interaction on key topics. It allows students to research and compose their ideas before participating in the discussion. It allows students to review and respond to other students, as well as course administrators.

Encourage Critical Thinking - Pose questions on the discussion board that will bring the best out of your students. Offer students some questions that will force them to probe for facts and expand the discussion.

Establish A Community – As the administrator or facilitator of the board, propose an engaging icebreaker that draws the participants into the discussion. When the students feel at ease with each other and the facilitator, the discussions become more productive.

Establish Participation Requirements – Provide clear guidelines and expectations in your course description as to what is expected of the student. Post those requirements on the board so the students can refer to them often.

On this day – (1885) Statue of Liberty arrived in NYC aboard French ship `Isere'

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON HOW TO CREATE YOUR OWN ONLINE CLASSES PLEASE CLICK HERE OR CALL US ANYTIME @ (212)960-3191.