Teaching with Online Communication Tools
Teaching with Asynchronous Communication Tools
What Are Asynchronous Tools?
Asynchronous tools are those which users post to and the post
is read and replied to later. The most popular asynchronous tool
is email, but others include listservs (automated email lists),
bulleting boards (where users can see the entire list of postings
on a browser), newsgroups, blogs, and wikis. All of these formats
are supported by UIUC or easily accessible through third-party
vendors (such as Blogger) and are being used actively in a large
number of classes.
Teaching with Asynchronous Tools
Asynchronous tools can support a number of different teaching
strategies. Cooperative learning, shared tasks, peer review and
comment, student led discussions, and inquiry/problem-based learning
in particular lend themselves to using online discussion tools.
Cooperative/Peer Learning
Asynchronous communication tools are well suited to cooperative
learning strategies. In all of CITES EdTech supported courseware,
venues can be set up to support group areas with discussion boards,
file sharing, and even chat. While these virtual group spaces
provide a platform for cooperative activities, it is important
to provide significant structure to both the assignment and the
use of the space for the online environment to be used effectively.
A well established virtual space has several advantages when
used with cooperative learning exercises. The space provides
an archive of student work which can be accessed by both the
students and the instructor. This archive provides both a means
to assess student comprehension and achievement as well as a
way to reinforce student learning. The virtual cooperative environment
also allows for sharing among different groups and group display,
allowing for class-wide peer review and learning.
Peer Review and Comment
Many instructors find that bulletin boards provide a very effective
forum for student peer review of their classmates’ written
work. This can be done within small groups as a cooperative learning
exercise, or on a class-wide basis. Instructors generally use
this forum for brief topical essays, reading response papers,
and other types of short writing. The online forum provides a
very convenient means to manage these types of assignments. Moreover,
archives of the assignments can be made visible for the entire
class allowing students to learn from their colleagues’ work.
Student-led Discussions
Some instructors find that having student discussion boards,
where the instructor does not actively participate, provides for
a forum where students can actively engage in debate and
dissent from the instructor’s opinion. Having students
participate in these forums is the greatest challenge in integrating
this strategy into a course. Having assigned topics and some
accountability for posting generally helps increase participation
but may hinder some of the “freewheeling” nature
of the discussion. Another possible route is to have students
generate the discussion topic and be accountable for summarizing
the results of the discussion without direct instructor intervention
in the discussion board itself.
Inquiry/Problem-based learning
Inquiry assignments are well suited for bulletin boards and
other online discussion environments. Please see our module
on Inquiry Learning for more about the potential of inquiry and
problem-based learning in the online environment.
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