Introduction

Online learning activities such as discussions and chat, assignments and group activities, can make communication more flexible for both you and your students, and free up classroom and consultation time. This workshop introduces some key concepts and processes that can help you manage students in the online environment, and gives some hands-on practice with the tools and techniques.

Face to face vs online

As in face-to-face teaching, online teaching requires careful planning of learning tasks, activities and support. Learning activities for online learning could include problem-based learning, online debates, role-plays and simulations, project team work and research activities. Support material and facilities could include learning guides, online mentors and buddies, online personal learning portfolios, and shared workspace for group learning. (Jusri and Lim, 2003)

A key feature of online learning is that it is collaborative. Therefore, after students and tutors are comfortable with the software and the social environment on line, the role of the moderator is that of enabling effective and purposeful collaboration. (Salmon & Giles, 1997)

A study revealed that students in a course presented in face-to-face or online mode held slightly more positive perceptions about the instructor and overall course quality in the face-to-face format, although there was no difference between the two course formats in several measures of learning outcomes (Johnson et al. 2000). It was suggested that this was due to diminished ‘social presence’ in the online course.

In  campus-based, and web-supported, courses, students are able to develop social aspects of the course in the face-to-face environment, that can be carried through to the online activities. For instance, a face-to-face orientation for online group work will allow group members to meet each other, and the teacher to present the format of the online course, and answer questions, prior to starting the project. However, an online orientation has the benefit of familiarising students with the online environment, and initiating their online communication skills. While it may seem difficult to generate a social environment online, it can be very effectively done if well-supported - often stronger one-to-one relationships (instructor-student and student-student) are formed in online courses than in face-to-face classes (Jusri and Lim, 2003).

Some advantages of having activities and communication online include:

• The flexibility offered by online resources and activities is increasingly demanded by students, who may have work or family demands, or live far from campus.
• It gives teachers the opportunity to ensure that their students are well-supported, prepared for classes, and engaged in class activities, without constant face-to-face supervision. You can use a course discussion area to prepare for class and adapt class time to address the needs of the students. Also, if you use the Web discussion area to address some of the more straightforward student questions, you can make better use of class time.
• Taking a student-centred approach to providing online activities will encourage your students to take responsibility for their own learning, and develop important graduate attributes such as the capacity for independent learning, the ability to work in groups, and to develop a community of practice where they learn discipline-specific communication skills.
• Students who are reticent in class may find that participating in an online discussion is less threatening than speaking in front of peers. And in an online discussion, students can compose, edit, and refine their ideas before expressing them to the group. This is an advantage not only to shy students, but also to those who are from a non-English speaking background.
• Discussion areas work well for courses that cover topics that may be too sensitive, controversial, or personal for some students to discuss face-to-face. Students contributing to online conversation may feel less exposed than in a classroom setting, particularly if you allow them to write using pseudonyms.
  Support students with a ‘help’ forum to post course-related queries that don’t fit into topic discussions. This is preferable to using email as often students will answer each others’ queries, and questions need be posted only once to provide an answer to all.

(Some points adapted from: Web Teaching at Dartmouth College - Taking discussion online http://www.dartmouth.edu/~webteach/articles/discussion.html)

This workshop will start by getting an idea from you about the kind of interactive online activities you are interested in for your students. While we will begin with a face-to-face discussion, most of the communication in this workshop will be online.

DISCUSSION: Apart from the examples mentioned, what benefits of online activities can you think of? What disadvantages might online activities have?

ONLINE DISCUSSION: What interactive online activities are included, or do you wish to include in your course, and how do they relate to on-campus classes? Share your interests with workshop participants, using the online discussion forum.