Journal #3

"Keeping Them Chatting" by Jennie Cole

Online courses can be beneficial, but it is often difficult to keep students actively participating. Lively conversations can be rare because students lose interest. Also, students often interject with personal talk, straying from the topic. With planning for online discussions, teachers should first come up with a detailed purpose and outcome for the discussion. There are four types of questions that encourage student interaction. First, there are high-level, open-ended questions. With these questions, teachers should give the students specific requirements for students’ comments and responses. The students should be given a rubric as well. Using the inquiry method, these questions require research and problem solving. Students are given guidelines to report their findings. When the research is completed, students should share their projects. The Discrepant Event Inquiry Method uses questions that require students to complete detailed research. Using personal examples in questions allows students to research a topic that he/ she can relate. Using this method students evaluate each other’s projects. All of these methods challenge students and initiate discussions.

Question #1
What other tools or methods might help online discussions?
If students are interested in the information, they are going to be more likely to actively participate in a discussion. At the beginning of the year, I plan to make it a goal to get to know my students. By doing this, I can incorporate things that I know the students enjoy into the classroom.

Question #2
How can I keep online discussions from becoming personal chatting?
I think it is very important to clearly go over the dos and don’ts of educational online discussions so the students will know what is expected of them. Also, I will frequently monitor their discussions to ensure that they are sticking to the topic.


Cole, Jeanie (2009 February). Keep Them Chatting. Learning and Leading With Technology, 36, Retrieved March 6, 2009, from http://www.learningandleading-digital.com/learning_leading/200902