Tech Teens:Creating Classroom

Community, Collaboration, and Citizenship

Alexander Davidson

@_AlexanderJohn #TechTeens

Technology Natives? Our students may not be as well-versed in technology as

we assume “How do I insert an image into my Word document?” “How do I save my Pages file as a .doc or .pdf?” “What does it mean to CC on an email?” “What should I do if I don’t remember my password?”

While our students may have different skills than us, that does not mean they are skilled in everything we need them to do

We must still explicitly teach them these technology skills Do not assume they already know how to do what you

are asking

@_AlexanderJohn #TechTeens

Online Discussions – My Experience The Odyssey: Take personality tests online about which

Greek god you are most like, post it online, reply to others FAIL! “Cool” “Me, too” “Nice”

Not an online discussion What did you expect? Did you plan for what types of topics they could talk

about with this activity?

@_AlexanderJohn #TechTeens

Online Discussions – My Experience The Great Debaters: After watching the film, write a

paragraph on Moodle about which character you believe to be the strongest; reply to three other students’ posts MEH. “Good example, Collin. I completely agree with you

on this one.” Still not an online discussion

Not actually going deeper and relating Staying on the surface

@_AlexanderJohn #TechTeens

Online Discussions - Intervention Lesson and discussion

What are some characteristics of an online discussion response that needs improvement?

Too broad/vague; not specific; no detail Too short; no explanation Disrespectful; forces opinion on others Responding to writer and not to writing No reference to the original post; off-topic Text speech Grammar mistakes

Go back; find replies to improve/edit

What are some characteristics of an acceptable online discussion response?

Respectful Gives an opinion; personal reactions In-depth; explains with details If disagreeing, gives constructive criticism Goes back to the original response to

reference what the writer wrote down Address the writer by name Offer further questions, examples, or

explanation

@_AlexanderJohn #TechTeens

Online Discussions – My Experience Independent Book Clubs, Choice Novels: Conduct an

online book club; each student is responsible for providing a summary and 2-3 deeper level discussion questions; other students reply to the original post and one other student reply; leader responds to all replies; each student has a turn leading Success!

Explicit instructions Clear expectations Calendar for posts and replies Modelled responses for better answers

@_AlexanderJohn #TechTeens

Online Discussions - Recommendations Important Questions

How do the ideas and information to be discussed fit into the course as a whole?

What skills, knowledge, perspectives, or sensibilities do you want students to walk away from the discussion with?

How will you make sure your students meet those objectives?

(Carnegie Mellon: design & teach a course: Discussions

@_AlexanderJohn #TechTeens

Online Discussions - Recommendations Give students clear expectations about online discussion

requirements, deadlines, and grading procedures. Assess the quality as well as the quantity of the students' online

posts. Using rubrics will allow students to have a clear guideline of your expectations for quality of their posts.

Provide a schedule for students of upcoming discussion board deadlines. Give as much notice as possible.

Provide structure for students to post to threads. A good structure lessens the frustration of what to write.

Make yourself visible in the discussion. Students will be more likely to engage in the discussion if they see you as being a part of it.

Do not allow domination of the discussion. If students are dominating the discussion, privately ask them to slow down a little

(TeacherStream, 2009, “Mastering Online Discussion Board Facilitation”)

@_AlexanderJohn #TechTeens

Online Discussion Resources Haynie, D. (2015, April 3). 5 Ways to Ace

Discussion Board Assignments in an Online Class. Retrieved from https://www.usnews.com/education/online-education/articles/2015/04/03/5-ways-to-ace-discussion-board-assignments-in-an-online-class

Morrison, D. (2014, September 29). How to Get Students to Participate in Online Discussions. Retrieved March 10, 2017, from https://onlinelearninginsights.wordpress.com/2012/06/22/how-to-get-students-to-participate-in-online-discussions/

TeacherStream, LLC. (2009). Mastering Online Discussion Board Facilitation . Retrieved from https://www.edutopia.org/pdfs/stw/edutopia-onlinelearning-mastering-online-discussion-board-facilitation.pdf

@_AlexanderJohn #TechTeens

Other Technology Resources Modeling

Use a projector or interactive white board to show students step-by-step

Create a video of your recorded screen https://screencast-o-matic.com/ https://www.screencastify.com/

Interactive Lesson Plans NearPod: https://nearpod.com/ Kahoot: https://getkahoot.com/ Quizlet Live: https://quizlet.com/live

@_AlexanderJohn #TechTeens

Contact Information AlexanderDavidsonBooks.com

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