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Intersubjectivity Online: Design, Facilitation, and Evaluation Vanessa Dennen Florida State University vdennen@fsu.edu slideshare.net/vanessadennen meme.coe.fsu.edu/vanessa

Online Discussion Cycle

Design Facilitation Evaluation

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Elements Contributing to Intersubjectivity

Intersubjectivity

Objectives

Power

Interest

Time

Attention

Design Issues � What is communicated to students about

performance expectations? � How do prompts scaffold performance

expectations? � What should be included in prompts?

�  Number of messages? �  Content of messages? �  Timing of messages? �  Interaction between message partners?

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Intersubjectivity and Design � Course designers (instructors?) set the

design � Students must accept and adopt it � PROBLEM:

�  Students execute at the checklist level

Facilitation Issues

Course

Why are you here?

Why are these other

people here?

Discussion

What is required?

What is the outcome?

Exchange What are you

saying? What am I replying?

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Course Level Facilitation � Need agreement on

�  Why students are in the course �  What will be learned �  How it will be learned

Discussion Level Facilitation � Need agreement on:

�  What will be discussed �  The outcomes of the discussion �  Who may contribute

�  Instructor-student agreement � Peer agreement

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Message Posting vs Discussion � A collection of messages that respond to

an assignment ≠ intersubjectivity � Topically threaded messages ≠

intersubjectivity �  Intersubjectivity is reliant on discursive

interchange working toward a goal or goals

Ownership, Complexity, and Different Media �  Discussion Boards:

�  Instructor as owner �  Respond to instructor, respond to peers

�  Blogs �  Blogger as owner �  Encourages essays with responses

�  Twitter �  Fragmented ownership and responses �  Short messages impact complexity of thought

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Exchange Level Facilitation � Micro-level examination of the discussion � Look at positioning and acceptance or

negotiation of position �  Discursive interactions �  Performance of expertise

Facilitation Goals � Encourage:

�  Responsive discourse �  Shared goals �  Group identity

� Help in position negotiation � Work toward an outcome

�  Perhaps group, perhaps related individual outcomes

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Evaluation � Were outcomes reached?

�  Whose outcomes?

� Sources of data �  Archived discussions �  Log files �  Need something more …

� Focus group? �  Interviews?

Closing Thought: An Instructional Cycle

Design

Participation

Facilitation

Assessment of outcomes

Evaluation of Design