FLORIDA ATLANTIC
UNIVERSITY
Instructional Design
Communication
o Synchronous
(can be recorded)
o Asynchronous
o Email
o Discussion Boards
o Blogs
o Wikis
FLORIDA ATLANTIC
UNIVERSITY
Instructional Design
Advantages of Asynchronous
discussions
o Allow students time for deeper thought and
refection –Driscoll (1998) suggests that
asynchronous methods provide a more
flexible timeframe for students to reflect on
what they have learned as compared to
synchronous delivery formats.
o In a F2F class keeps the discussion going
between class or when class is too short.
FLORIDA ATLANTIC
UNIVERSITY
Instructional Design
Discussion Board – Best Practices
o Fostering discussions
o Promoting Higher Order Thinking
o Creating Community and
Collaboration
o Assessment
FLORIDA ATLANTIC
UNIVERSITY
Instructional Design
Fostering the discussion
o Frame the topic – Divide large topics into
logical subtopics (Ko & Rossen(2001)
o Asking open-ended questions and
encouraging students to reply with more
personal thought to ensure that the email
dialogue is interactive rather than just a
one-way instruction (Chang, 2009).
o Professor - Establish a pattern of frequent
response- several short bursts per week
instead of one long session(Ko &
Rossen(2001)
FLORIDA ATLANTIC
UNIVERSITY
Instructional Design
Encouragement and support
o Facilitate student participation – get them
talking to each other – respond to group
themes not individuals(Ko & Rossen(2001)
o Responsibility online instructor to nudge and
encourage the construction knowledge (just
like in a face to face classroom).
(Christopher, Thomas & Tallent-Rennels,
2004).
o Consider a “quiet time” when other time
intensive activities are occurring in the class
(Ko & Rossen(2001)
FLORIDA ATLANTIC
UNIVERSITY
Instructional Design
Be aware of cultural patterns
(Ko & Rossen(2001)
o Make it clear if participation is
mandatory Don’t force personal
experiences try
“Can you relate to this to your own
experiences or one you have heard or
read about?”
FLORIDA ATLANTIC
UNIVERSITY
Instructional Design
Individual Personalities
o Quieter students more likely to participate
in online classes than in F2F class –
information exchanges more prevelant in
asynchronous format by providing
opportunities for shy or non-native
speakers to express themselves
(Delahoussay & Neiheisel, 2005: Funaro &
Montell, 1999).
FLORIDA ATLANTIC
UNIVERSITY
Instructional Design
Promoting Higher Order
Thinking
FLORIDA ATLANTIC
UNIVERSITY
Instructional Design
Active thinking
• Use case studies
• Problem solving
• Groups/teams
FLORIDA ATLANTIC
UNIVERSITY
Instructional Design
Assessment
Discussion Rubric
Full
Partial
Demonstrates a full
Demonstrates an
understanding of the
understanding of parts of
topic and related
the topic and related
Comprehension & Critical research. Is full of
research. Shows some
Thinking
insight and analysis and
insight and analysis and
clear connections to
some connections to realreal-life situations are
life situations are made
made
Zero
Total
possible
points 30
15
Does not seem to understand the
topic and related research. No analysis
or insight is displayed and no
connections to real-life situations are
made
5
Style
Posts discussion
Post discussion comments Posts discussion comments that
comments using proper that contain several spelling demonstrate numerous spelling and
spelling and grammar and grammatical errors
grammatical errors
Netiquette
Posts comments that
abide by the rules of
Posts comments that violate
Netiquette in that they
some of the rules of
are respectful, socially
Netiquette
appropriate, and
professional
Responds
Meaningful response to
at least one other class
member
FLORIDA ATLANTIC
UNIVERSITY
Instructional Design
5
Posts comments that violate the rules
of Netiquette in that they are
disrespectful, inappropriate, and
unprofessional
5
No response to another class member
Encouraging Participation
Cawthon, & Harris (2008)
• Provide students with expectations for
participation
• Time commitments required for
participation
• Communication with peers mandatory
• Frequent grading of discussions even
if pass/fail.
FLORIDA ATLANTIC
UNIVERSITY
Instructional Design
Creating Community and
Collaboration
Reduce the feeling of isolation that
came come with distance education.
If web-based courses provide learners
with effective interaction, then they
possess all the benefits that a course
could possibly have – flexibility
convenience, and quality (Chang, 2009)
FLORIDA ATLANTIC
UNIVERSITY
Instructional Design
Infrastructure Strategies
Interaction Strategies
Access to multiple communication Read for content not detail
technologies
Posting of announcements and
“what’s new” updates.
Encourage and support fellow learners
in their efforts
Personal Web pages for each
learner
Use messages to indicated to learners
what they Could be doing, Should be
doing, and what they Must be doing in
terms of the course
Learners have sufficient
Use of teams for completing work in
opportunities to interact with each the course
other as well as with the instructor
A daily visit to the web sited to check
for new messages on the discussion
boards.
Strategies and techniques for community building in on-line environments (Hill, Han, & Raven, 2001).
FLORIDA ATLANTIC
UNIVERSITY
Instructional Design
Instructor Strategies
Learner Strategies
Provide multiple opportunities
for interaction.
Visit the course web site daily (or
every other day at a minimum).
Send out management related
messages on a regular basis
Provide encouragement and
support.
Establish teams so that learners Scan material posted on the web
work together to complete
site do not read for detail if feeling
tasks
information overload
Keep the web site up to date
and add in new information on
a regular basis to keep thing
“fresh”
Instructor and Learner Strategies for community building in online environments
(Hill, Han, & Raven, 2001).
FLORIDA ATLANTIC
UNIVERSITY
Instructional Design
FLORIDA ATLANTIC
UNIVERSITY
Instructional Design
FLORIDA ATLANTIC
UNIVERSITY
Instructional Design
FLORIDA ATLANTIC
UNIVERSITY
Instructional Design
FLORIDA ATLANTIC
UNIVERSITY
Instructional Design