CHAPTER 5 TRANSITION FROM DISCUSSION TO COP
Learning in online classes takes place through interactive discussion
about course content. Learning does not take place in a vacuum and interactive
discussion brings forth sharing of students' prior knowledge and experience in
such a manner that all students learn from each other. Online learning is the
perfect place to use constructivist instructional strategies. Put quite simply,
constructivism is assimilating new information to prior existing knowledge,
modifying understanding and applying information based on the new
"constructed" knowledge.
This is an ongoing process and requires a learner-centered, active
learning environment. Where better to encourage this kind of learning than in
an online class where EVERY student has many opportunities to discuss and share
both prior and new knowledge? Taking this a step further, in a COP students
learn even more because they are teaching each other through peer reviews and
critiques. And then there is the revision element of the COP which allows
students to further develop their concept skills and knowledge throughout the
duration of the course.
Without interactive discussion, an online course would become just another correspondence course where the faculty gives the resources, students (presumably but often do not) read the information, take a test, and get a grade. Sadly, this is what is happening in all too many online course discussions. In a COP, engagement is ongoing. Although it is preferable to set up a COP learning format directly through effective course design, successful use of these COP strategies can be accomplished in a pre-designed weekly discussion course.
Without interactive discussion, an online course would become just another correspondence course where the faculty gives the resources, students (presumably but often do not) read the information, take a test, and get a grade. Sadly, this is what is happening in all too many online course discussions. In a COP, engagement is ongoing. Although it is preferable to set up a COP learning format directly through effective course design, successful use of these COP strategies can be accomplished in a pre-designed weekly discussion course.
A COP has three primary elements
that can be used in all discussions: share,
practice, and review. Share refers to what students know and teach others;
this is where the primary conversations take place. Practice refers to students'
applying concepts through case-based and/or problem-solving scenarios. Review
refers to an ongoing editing and revision process that focuses on both content
and writing as students choose and work on their mastery demonstration product.
At the end of the process, students are ready to publish a deliverable for a
grade.
COP
BEST PRACTICE IN WEEKLY DISCUSSIONS
The transition from a traditional
one-post/two-response/one assignment weekly online class format to a dynamic,
multi-directional conversation in a COP is relatively easy to set up. I cannot
stress enough that using this COP model of instruction benefits both faculty
and students. Students learn more because they choose what they learn. Students
retain more of what they learn because they are immersed in their topics of
choice at a time of their own choosing. Faculty time in teaching and grading is
streamlined, more effective, and more efficient. All too often these days, our
online courses are pre-designed and we no longer have the ability to add
lessons or assessments or even discussions. So how are we to use the valuable
and effective Community of Practice in a pre-designed course?
Determine if you have the ability
in your LMS to add a discussion forum. If so, add a few COPs to run the duration
of the course. If not, then in the weekly discussion forum, add a new thread
for a COP to use during each weekly unit of study. I like to do a combination
of both. I use a general COP for working on academic writing skills in all
subject matter courses and this COP runs for the duration of the course. Then in
each weekly discussion, you can either run a separate COP thread or generate
engagement directly in the weekly discussions.
So what do you do if you cannot add
a forum in your discussions? Sometimes I hear from colleagues that they cannot
add a forum to the discussion board in their online classes, that all
discussions are pre-set and cannot be changed, added to, or removed. There is a
work-around in most LMS discussions. When I have worked in such situations, I
add the COP as a new thread in the weekly forum. Using a weekly COP is not
nearly as effective as a COP that spans the entire duration of the course, but
it is a start in the right direction and is certainly better than not doing
anything.
SLIPPING COP STRATEGIES INTO PRE-DESIGNED DISCUSSIONS
Pre-designed courses are the
"norm" now and so this section will focus on strategies for
incorporating COP practices in pre-designed online discussions. Some schools
will allow faculty to change or add questions or prompts while others will not.
I have worked in both. In schools where changes are not allowed, I sometimes
can get away with doing so anyway. Just as when I was in a classroom and given
strict requirements for what to teach and how to teach it, I often just closed
my door and taught as I pleased. This is, of course, a bit more difficult in an
online class where everything you do is preserved forever. In order to be able
to use effective strategies that you KNOW will maximize students' learning
beyond what the instructional designers have written into these pre-designed
courses, sometimes you have to be a bit of a rebel.
Faculty usually ask "But what if I get caught changing requirements?" Whether or not that is a consideration depends on how micro-managed your courses are and how often courses are reviewed. Another consideration is how thoroughly your courses are reviewed. In my experience (and yours may be different), when discussions are reviewed for evaluation, the reviewer is looking at how often you participated and will not read every posting you made. So the first key is to create subject lines that do draw attention to your posting, sending up a red flag that says "read me," such as "Class" or "To everyone." Innocuous subject lines that focus on the topic, such as "communication in groups" or "using communication in the workplace," are far less likely to generate undue attention from a reviewer. As long as faculty make clear to students that all faculty postings require responses, then faculty can ask additional questions here. See Chapter 2 for an example of specific steps/instructions for students as you provide discussion topic choices.
My announcements and rubrics indicate that students must participate beyond the one-posting/two response minimal requirements for the online course. Rubrics provided with the pre-designed course are usually very poorly designed, quite vague, and easily interpreted by faculty however they wish to interpret the descriptors. When provided with rubrics, I always give students a handout that explains each descriptor in detail so they know the exact expectations. This allows me to require more than the minimal posting/response requirements.
Faculty usually ask "But what if I get caught changing requirements?" Whether or not that is a consideration depends on how micro-managed your courses are and how often courses are reviewed. Another consideration is how thoroughly your courses are reviewed. In my experience (and yours may be different), when discussions are reviewed for evaluation, the reviewer is looking at how often you participated and will not read every posting you made. So the first key is to create subject lines that do draw attention to your posting, sending up a red flag that says "read me," such as "Class" or "To everyone." Innocuous subject lines that focus on the topic, such as "communication in groups" or "using communication in the workplace," are far less likely to generate undue attention from a reviewer. As long as faculty make clear to students that all faculty postings require responses, then faculty can ask additional questions here. See Chapter 2 for an example of specific steps/instructions for students as you provide discussion topic choices.
My announcements and rubrics indicate that students must participate beyond the one-posting/two response minimal requirements for the online course. Rubrics provided with the pre-designed course are usually very poorly designed, quite vague, and easily interpreted by faculty however they wish to interpret the descriptors. When provided with rubrics, I always give students a handout that explains each descriptor in detail so they know the exact expectations. This allows me to require more than the minimal posting/response requirements.
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