How to Engage Students?
Comments: 5 - Date: February 11th, 2008 - Categories: Learning
Diana had a great post last week about Ben Chun’s use of Moodle in his classroom. While there has been a lot of talk about teachers finding innovative ways to use technology, the conversation seems to often focus on motivating teachers rather than students. The prevailing attitude seems to be that students will automatically flock to an online discussion forum to discuss schoolwork.
There are many inspiring successes out there (click for an example),but I think the availability heuristic is a source of some bias. When classrooms don’t successfully use new technology, we don’t hear about it. And if we do, it’s easy to put the blame on the adults with generalizations like this:
From Corporate Power
Information technology causes stress on the campus, simply because no one can always keep up at the cutting edge of technology. Even younger faculty members who have grown up with the Internet feel stressed due to the fact that information technology is not user-friendly.
In my own admittedly limited experience, I would argue the same could be said of students who have grown up with the Internet. It is often students who are reluctant to engage in discussion in online forums. Several of my classes have had online blogs, forums, or wikis, which are all very easily incorporated on the official course website. Despite mandatory online discussions, the infrequency of student participation was a source of frustration among professors. Students would often pose their own questions, but few took the time to respond to others’ questions. The interaction that makes such technology so great was sorely lacking.
Without getting into the controversy of the term, perhaps we, the current college students, are not Digital Native enough? Certainly few, if any of us, were accustomed to posting homework online in elementary or middle school. Maybe there’s this line in our heads that the classroom ends when we step out the door. I pose these questions because this is an issue that has bothered me for some time. What are some ways to get students to participate in online academic discussions? Is this less of a problem for younger students who are more in tune with digital learning?
-Sarah Z.
Comment by Howard Rheingold - February 11, 2008 @ 1:33 pm
1. Model, model, model. If the teacher doesn’t do it enthusiastically and well, why should students use forums?
2. Demo, demo, demo — show how it’s done during class, repeatedly.
3. Allow for fun — start some discussions that aren’t doggedly on-topic. If the students want to talk skateboarding or pop culture, don’t discourage it.
4. Pose questions and start discussions provocatively. Who wants to respond to “post 300 words about this week’s reading?”
Comment by Gabriel Schwartz - February 11, 2008 @ 2:05 pm
In my experience online discussions, even those with engaging questions, do not generate the same kind of responses that in class discussions do. Now it is possible that none of my classmates are “digital native enough” but it seems more likely that online discussions are not capable of transmitting the same information as face to face talk is. Though, if we were “digital native enough” then I guess online discussions would be able to engage us the same way that face to face discussions do.
– sophomore at University of Rochester
Comment by Anonymous - February 11, 2008 @ 2:58 pm
Maybe students believe (rightly or wrongly) that the teacher still rewards in-class contributions more than those online.
Comment by cory plough - February 11, 2008 @ 4:03 pm
Wow, what a great discussion? Ive been teaching online courses for 4 years now and still trying to figure this one out. Im always revamping ideas but what it has come down to this year is getting kids connected first. I teach HS and most of our kids are at-risk and not digital natives. Trying to build community amongst those students through online social networks and shared blogging assignments should in turn lead to more academic discussions. Im crossing my fingers
Comment by Christopher Patton - February 12, 2008 @ 11:50 am
I don’t think it’s a question of students not being “digital native” enough, but there are definitely some gaps in the flow of technologies as a currency across generations. Educators often apply digital technologies in an essentialist manner substituting traditional face-to-face discussion or written work for digital alternatives hoping to relate to students’ digital orientation then are at odds when students don’t feel compelled to participate. The greatest technological innovation in Web 2.0 is not the software, but the behavior it encourages. For many of us something about the purposeful, rational application of these technologies places a limit on this will to freely discuss and learn in the digital realm.