Forum Discussions

2019 ◽  
pp. 115-152
Author(s):  
Bethanie L. Hansen
Keyword(s):  
Online Course ◽  
Discussion Forums ◽  
The Third ◽  
Online Educators

In the third section, Specifics of Course Components and Samples, course components other than text are introduced. These include multimedia assets—effective tools to deliver content, engage learners, and promote creativity—as well as discussion forums, assignments, announcements, and other tools, illustrated by examples. This section is organized topically and serves as a resource for both novice and veteran online educators. For each area, tips are provided to ensure that these aspects of the online course are successfully developed and presented to students. Specific examples are provided that can be used in any online course without additional permission.

Taking a Hard Look at the Soft Skills of Online Course Design and Online Teaching in Higher Education

2017 ◽  
pp. 158-181
Author(s):  
Kevin P. Gosselin ◽  
Maria Northcote ◽  
Kristi D. Wuensche ◽  
Trudy Stoddard
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Online Learning ◽  
Online Education ◽  
Online Teaching ◽  
Course Design ◽  
Soft Skills ◽  
Online Course ◽  
Online Course Design ◽  
Post Secondary ◽  
Online Educators

Over the past few decades, substantial growth has occurred in online education in general, and this has been particularly true of the higher education sector. Most universities and post-secondary institutions now offer students the opportunity to enroll in online pre-tertiary, vocational, undergraduate and/or postgraduate courses. While some of these courses are successful for the learners who enroll in them, others have been found somewhat deficient, often criticized for their lack of humanization, interaction, communication and online presence. This chapter examines the role of the so-called soft skills of online course design and online teaching that are seen as vital for online educators who are responsible for the facilitation of high quality online learning. Along with a review of relevant literature about the soft skills of online teaching, the chapter presents three institutional case studies from which a set of practically-focused recommendations for promoting the design of humanized online learning environments has been developed.

scholarly journals Assessing experiences with online educational videos: Converting multiple constructed responses to quantifiable data

2015 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
David J Harrison
Keyword(s):  
Online Courses ◽  
Course Delivery ◽  
Online Course ◽  
Instructional Designers ◽  
Subjective Experiences ◽  
Qualitative Survey ◽  
Educational Videos ◽  
Constructed Responses ◽  
To Come ◽  
Online Educators

<p>Online educational videos disseminated content for a university pre-service teacher internship program. Placed within an online course management system, the videos were accessed by 202 interns located in several Western U.S. states. To ascertain the interns’ subjective experiences of the online course and videos to assist in the evaluation of the course, the researcher analyzed qualitative survey data in the form of constructed response items using a new qualitative-to-quantitative protocol. Based on phenomenological and grounded theory methods, this protocol was designed to handle the large amount of subjective constructed responses, allowing the inductive understanding of the overall experiences of a common phenomenon. The responses provided critical information that is useful for instructional designers, online educators, and educational video producers. The data suggest:</p><p>1) Universities must carefully consider video hosting options to ensure access.</p><p>2) Online videos should be carefully planned to create high quality, concise videos of less than ten minutes in length, yet contain enough educational content to reduce the overall number of required videos.</p><p>3) Students appreciate the flexibility online course delivery offered in terms of scheduling and eliminating the need to come to campus to attend seminars.</p><p>4) Self-paced online courses require progress indicators to alleviate confusion.</p>

scholarly journals Including Learning Analytics in the Loop of Self-Paced Online Course Learning Design

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hongxin Yan ◽  
Fuhua Lin ◽  
Kinshuk
Keyword(s):  
Online Education ◽  
Learning Analytics ◽  
Course Design ◽  
Online Course ◽  
Full Potential ◽  
Learning Design ◽  
Design Strategies ◽  
Student Modelling ◽  
Tutoring Systems ◽  
Online Educators

AbstractOnline education is growing because of its benefits and advantages that students enjoy. Educational technologies (e.g., learning analytics, student modelling, and intelligent tutoring systems) bring great potential to online education. Many online courses, particularly in self-paced online learning (SPOL), face some inherent barriers such as learning awareness and academic intervention. These barriers can affect the academic performance of online learners. Recently, learning analytics has been shown to have great potential in removing these barriers. However, it is challenging to achieve the full potential of learning analytics with the traditional online course learning design model. Thus, focusing on SPOL, this study proposes that learning analytics should be included in the course learning design loop to ensure data collection and pedagogical connection. We propose a novel learning design-analytics model in which course learning design and learning analytics can support each other to increase learning success. Based on the proposed model, a set of online course design strategies are recommended for online educators who wish to use learning analytics to mitigate the learning barriers in SPOL. These strategies and technologies are inspired by Jim Greer’s work on student modelling. By following these recommended design strategies, a computer science course is used as an example to show our initial practices of including learning analytics in the course learning design loop. Finally, future work on how to develop and evaluate learning analytics enabled learning systems is outlined.

scholarly journals Using the Internet: Nutrition Information-Seeking Behaviours of Lay People Enrolled in a Massive Online Nutrition Course

Nutrients ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 750
Author(s):  
Melissa Adamski ◽  
Helen Truby ◽  
Karen M. Klassen ◽  
Stephanie Cowan ◽  
Simone Gibson
Keyword(s):  
Information Seeking ◽  
Nutrition Information ◽  
Online Course ◽  
Scientific Integrity ◽  
Discussion Forums ◽  
The Public ◽  
Massive Open Online Course ◽  
Nutrition Course ◽  
Learning Behaviours ◽  
Nutrition Professionals

People’s accessibility to nutrition information is now near universal due to internet access, and the information available varies in its scientific integrity and provider expertise. Understanding the information-seeking behaviours of the public is paramount for providing sound nutrition advice. This research aims to identify who learners in a nutrition-focused Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) turn to for nutrition information, and how they discuss the information they find. A multi-methods approach explored the information-seeking and sharing behaviours of MOOC learners. Summative content analysis, and an exploratory, inductive, qualitative approach analysed learners’ posts in MOOC discussion forums. From 476 posts, the majority (58.6%) of nutrition information sources learners reported were from websites. Providers of nutrition information were most commonly (34%) tertiary educated individuals lacking identifiable nutrition qualifications; 19% had no identifiable author information, and only 5% were from nutrition professionals. Qualitative themes identified that learners used nutrition information to learn, teach and share nutrition information. Consistent with connectivist learning theory, learners contributed their own sources of nutrition information to discussions, using their own knowledge networks to teach and share information. Nutrition professionals need to understand the principles of connectivist learning behaviours in order to effectively engage the public.

Student engagement in distance learning environments: A comparison of threaded discussion forums and text-focused Wikis

First Monday ◽  
2008 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fei Gao ◽  
David Wong
Keyword(s):  
Online Discussion ◽  
Idea Generation ◽  
Online Course ◽  
Discussion Forums ◽  
Threaded Discussion ◽  
Assigned Reading ◽  
Focus Depth ◽  
The Right ◽  
Prior Experiences

The purpose of this study was to improve the quality of students' online discussion of assigned readings in an online course. To improve the focus, depth, and connectedness of online discussion, the first author designed a text-focused Wiki that simultaneously displayed the assigned reading and students' comments side by side in adjacent columns. In the text-focused Wiki, students were able to read the assigned text in the left column and type their comments or questions in the right column adjacent to the sentence or passage that sparked their interest. In post-participation surveys, data were gathered about students' experiences in the text-focused Wiki and prior experiences in threaded discussion forums. Students reported more focus, depth, flow, idea generation, and enjoyment in the text-focused Wiki.

scholarly journals Types of Participant Behavior in a Massive Open Online Course

2017 ◽  
Vol 18 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tali Kahan ◽  
Tal Soffer ◽  
Rafi Nachmias
Keyword(s):  
Online Courses ◽  
Massive Open Online Courses ◽  
Online Course ◽  
Discussion Forums ◽  
Massive Open Online ◽  
Massive Open Online Course ◽  
Video Lectures ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Course Achievement ◽  
Participant Behavior

<p class="3">In recent years there has been a proliferation of massive open online courses (MOOCs), which provide unprecedented opportunities for lifelong learning. Registrants approach these courses with a variety of motivations for participation. Characterizing the different types of participation in MOOCs is fundamental in order to be able to better evaluate the phenomenon and to support MOOCs developers and instructors in devising courses which are adapted for different learners' needs. Thus, the purpose of this study was to characterize the different types of participant behavior in a MOOC. Using a data mining methodology, 21,889 participants of a MOOC were classified into clusters, based on their activity in the main learning resources of the course: video lectures, discussion forums, and assessments. Thereafter, the participants in each cluster were characterized in regard to demographics, course participation, and course achievement characteristics. Seven types of participant behavior were identified: <em>Tasters</em> (64.8%), <em>Downloaders</em> (8.5%), <em>Disengagers</em> (11.5%), <em>Offline</em> <em>Engagers</em> (3.6%), <em>Online Engagers</em> (7.4%), <em>Moderately Social Engagers</em> (3.7%), and <em>Social Engagers</em> (0.6%). A significant number of 1,020 participants were found to be engaged in the course, but did not achieve a certificate. The types are discussed according to the established research questions. The results provide further evidence regarding the utilization of the flexibility, which is offered in MOOCs, by the participants according to their needs. Furthermore, this study supports the claim that MOOCs' impact should not be evaluated solely based on certification rates but rather based on learning behaviors.</p>

scholarly journals Peer assessment for massive open online courses (MOOCs)

2014 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hoi K. Suen
Keyword(s):  
Formative Assessment ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Peer Assessment ◽  
Massive Open Online Courses ◽  
Online Course ◽  
Discussion Forums ◽  
Massive Open Online ◽  
Massive Open Online Course ◽  
Online Discussion Forums ◽  
Assessment Results

<p>The teach-learn-assess cycle in education is broken in a typical massive open online course (MOOC). Without formative assessment and feedback, MOOCs amount to information dump or broadcasting shows, not educational experiences. A number of remedies have been attempted to bring formative assessment back into MOOCs, each with its own limits and problems. The most widely applicable approach for all MOOCs to date is to use peer assessment to provide the necessary feedback. However, unmoderated peer assessment results suffer from a lack of credibility. Several methods are available today to improve on the accuracy of peer assessment results. Some combination of these methods may be necessary to make peer assessment results sufficiently accurate to be useful for formative assessment. Such results can also help to facilitate peer learning, online discussion forums, and may possibly augment summative evaluation for credentialing.</p>

scholarly journals Enrollment, Engagement and Satisfaction in the BlendKit Faculty Development Open, Online Course

2015 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Patsy Moskal ◽  
Kelvin Thompson ◽  
Linda Futch
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Professional Development ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Online Course ◽  
Open Approach ◽  
University Of Central Florida ◽  
Central Florida ◽  
The Third ◽  
Online Format ◽  
The University

BlendKit is a 5-week course designed by the University of Central Florida in an open, online format specifically for the professional development of higher education faculty and designers preparing to design and teach blended learning courses. The evaluation of this course provides us with interesting and valuable information on the success of using an open approach of a MOOC compared to more traditional, highly structured professional development offerings typically seen in higher education. This article will focus on the lessons learned from the third iteration of this open, online course.

scholarly journals Designing an Online Course to Teach Anaphora in Foreign Languages

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Amanda Maraschin Bruscato ◽  
Jorge Baptista
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Foreign Languages ◽  
Online Course ◽  
Discussion Forums ◽  
Null Subject ◽  
Educational Videos ◽  
Pronominal System ◽  
The University ◽  
And Control

This paper presents the designing of an online course to teach anaphora in English and Spanish as foreign languages. Anaphora is a discursive mechanism that contributes to textual cohesion. Instead of repeating the same nouns in their texts, speakers can use different pronouns or even ellipsis to improve communication. Each language has its own anaphoric system, which can be very distinct from null-subject languages, such as Spanish, to non-null-subject languages, such as English. Focusing on this topic, a two-week course was designed and taught in 2020 at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil) and at the University of Algarve (Portugal) to language undergraduate students. The first lesson was an introduction to the concepts of cohesion, anaphora, and the pronominal system in the target language. These topics were further explained in the second lesson, which was also about ambiguity. The activities included: educational videos; tools for corpus analysis and coreference resolution; discussion forums; short answer, matching, and multiple-choice exercises; hyperlinks to more videos, texts, and exercises. Students’ knowledge of anaphora was assessed in a pre-test and in three post-tests (discussed in another article), and the results were compared between experimental and control groups. The teaching module improved learners’ comprehension of written texts and could be adapted to teach anaphora in other languages.

scholarly journals ONLINE-COURSE DEVELOPMENT VIA DISCUSSION-FORUM ON THE STUDENTS OF PHYSIC EDUCATION UNIVERSITAS NEGERI SEMARANG

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-18
Author(s):  
I. Sudarwati ◽  
S. Khanafiyah ◽  
S. Sugiyanto
Keyword(s):  
Discussion Forum ◽  
Online Course ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Discussion Forums ◽  
Design Development ◽  
Physic Education ◽  
Development Models ◽  
Online Course Development ◽  
Feasibility Test ◽  
Difficult Times

Students of Physic Education of Universitas Negeri Semarang often find some difficulties to understand the material. During difficult times, students usually find references on the internet,ask a friend who already understand, or ask a senior friend. Mostly students have a device that can be used to access the internet. Online-course via discussion-forum can be used as a discussion facility when they find difficulties to understand. Online-course via discussion-forum developed with ADDIE development models that includes the stages of analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation. Online-course discussion forum contains the list of courses that can be accessed by students via internet through the website discussion.belajarfisika.web.id. Feasibility of online course discussion forum was measured through assessment sheets of feasibility test from validators and questionnaire responses from students. The results of the feasibility test from the validator and student responses indicate that criteria are eligible. Results of the questionnaire about students' perceptions of learning through online course discussion forum show that Physic Education Students of Universitas Negeri Semarang have good perceptions of learning through online-course via discussion-forums.

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