Moodle and Web 2.0

Expertly facilitated online discussion is the driving force for community in online classes. Creating norms for discussion quality and timing improve the dialog. This also helps the facilitator step back as students learn to deepen their online dialog.Click here to edit the content

Speer isn’t alone in seeking to refresh the discussion forum as the key source of person-to-person interaction in online courses. Educators are pursuing a variety of strategies for fostering student engagement. One approach is to emphasize quality and thoughtfulness of responses over quantity and frequency. Another puts the instructor in the driver’s seat, steering conversations to sharper insights as they might from the front of a classroom.

The goal that unifies all of these efforts? Constructing a learning experience around collaboration as a means to deeper understanding.