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Destination: Using "Chats"
for Class Discussion
Foundation
All of us use class discussion
as a teaching tool to get some two-way interaction with our students.
Like Sophocles, we guide students to the "truth" through these
in-class dialogues of verbal discussion. Class discussion in a computer
setting has distinct characteristics that make it an exciting and worthwhile
place to "discuss," but it will call on you and your students
to make some adjustments.
Differences and characteristics
- In verbal conversation,
we naturally take turns talking; in a computer setting no turn-taking
is necessary. Multiple people can "talk" (post) at the same
time.
- This "multiplicity"
of voices enables more participation from more students in the class.
It makes for a more "active" class discussion.
- Because many people can
"talk" at the same time via the computers, often the discussion
will have multiple threads or topics going at the same time.
- In a traditional class
discussion, the teacher typically guides the discussion through a
process of Initiation--Reply--Evaluation. In a real-time computer
discussion, it is harder to maintain this tight control of the discussion
(though not impossible). The teacher doesn't seem to dominate the
discussion as much, and students tend to discuss between each other
more.
- Many teachers notice more
trivial discussion in real-time computer conversations; however, this
sense of students goofing off is deceptive. A look through the transcript
often reveals students were more "on task" than they seemed.
- Real-time computer discussions
are transcribed. Every bit of the discussion is saved and can be reviewed
later.
- Readers can experience
a sense of being overwhelmed or disoriented by the quick and fragmented
flow of discussion. Readers also adjust to this kind of discussion.
Having a "class discussion"
by using the computers in real-time is good for more open-ended exploration
of topics. Hence, I have found them well-suited for brainstorming activities
or for post-assignment activities where students are primed to participate
with their own perspective.
The learning philosophy beneath
real-time synchronous discussion differs from the traditional "Banking
Concept" of education where the teacher possesses the knowledge
and transmits it to the students. If you have a lesson with particular
points and truths that you wish your students to receive, then you probably
don't want to use a "chat" for that class period. However,
if you are open to guiding your students in discussion topics without
too heavy an agenda of "points, concepts, and truths" that
must be established, then the multiplicity of views expressed in a class
chat discussions can be very fertile for learning. If part of your goal
is for students to come to their own view on a topic (rather than necessarily
your view on the topic), then these kinds of discussions are excellent.
Ironically, students in these
discussions often "get to" the points, and even make evaluative
judgments, you might have wished to cover in a lecture. However, these
points and evaluations are often made in the context of a quick moving,
fragmented scroll of posts on the computer screen. If
these discussions are going to be worth anything more than virtual dust,
it requires the participants to review the transcript to pick out important
points. The teacher, too, can assist in highlighting
important points and concepts as the discussion is in progress.
Practice
Recommendations
for setting up a real-time class discussion via computers
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1. Create
a discussion prompt(s)
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You
will want to set the discussion in motion in a particular "direction."
Totally open chats will invite discussions about last Friday night
and so and so's hair. You might also consider creating a set of
"Talking Points" that you guide the discussion with, so
when the first Talking Point is addressed, you can post the next
guide to the discussion. |
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2. Clarify
your expectations for the discussion
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In
your first prompt, include a short message expressing your expectations
for the discussion. Although you may not want to go into the details
of "netiquette," you will want to remind students that
you expect them to address the topic and discuss amongst themselves
in a civil and considered way. I also recommend that you make
participation in the discussion a daily grade, and tell them the
level of participation you expect (number of posts, length of
posts).
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3. Break
the class into groups
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I recommend
that you create discussion groups of from five to twelve, depending
on the kind of discussion you will be having. Although there are
times when you may want the whole class to "talk" together,
limiting the groups will help the number of messages to be more
manageable and less overwhelming for students. You want to find
the right balance between the number of students that produce
a fruitful level of participation and the number that doesn't
produce so many messages that the discussion is hard to follow.
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Tools for conducting real-time synchronous class discussions
Daedalus
Probably the
easiest "tool" at our disposal for class "chats"
is Daedalus.
Set Up--
1) You should have a class created already in Daedalus (see Lennie Irvin)
2) Log in and click ACTIVITIES and INTERCHANGE
3) Type in or paste your discussion prompt. Click SEND.
4) If you want more than one group, click on the menu bar INTERCHANGE
and CREATE CONFERENCE.
5) To paste the prompt in each group conference, go to INTERCHANGE and
JOIN CONFERENCE. Click on the conference and hit JOIN.
Class Day--
1) Have students register in Daedalus if necessary
2) Students go to discuss by clicking ACTIVITIES and INTERCHANGE.
3) To join conferences, click INTERCHANGE and JOIN CONFERENCE. Click
on the conference and hit JOIN.
4) Transcripts: When done, be sure everyone is logged out of your class;
then click UTILITIES and CREATE INTERCHANGE TRANSCRIPT. Select the conferences
you wish to turn into a single file.
To retrieve the
transcript, click UTILITIES and CLASS FILES and then INTERCHANGES. You
should see the transcripts listed. You can open and save them to diskette
or print them.
MOO
Another option
is to have your online class discussion via MOO. One of MOO's strengths
is in the expressive possibilities and play it brings to online discussions.
Note: Some familiarity with MOOing is needed by the instructor; students
with the help of the QuickStart guide can use the MOO with no prior
experience MOOing.
Set Up--
1) Use Classroom 101 as your virtual classroom (unless you create your
own class space). This classroom comes with five group rooms for smaller
group discussion.
2) Create Notes to contain Discussion Topics and put these Notes into
the Group Rooms
3) Before that day's discussion begins, go to each Group room you intend
to use and start the recorders:
--Type: Start <RecorderName>
e.g. type recorder1
--fill in a name for the transcript. You are now ready.
Class Day--
1) Students can log in as Guests. Once they get to the AlaMOO login,
they simply click Login. Keep the username as "guest" and
no password is needed.
2) Students arrive in AlaMOO Plaza. They will need to click to the Classroom
Building and then Classroom 101.
3) Once students are in their appropriate groups, they click the Discussion
Topic Note to see the discussion prompt. And go. The AlaMOO
QuickStart sheet will help students with communicating and getting
around in the MOO.
When you are done,
go to each group room and type: Stop <recordername>
e.g. stop recorder1 . Hit enter. The transcript of the discussion now
lives as a note inside the Recorder. Click on the recorder and you can
see the transcript note. You can either copy and paste the text out
of the note, or the note is accessible via the web. To get the URL of
the note, right click the note and pull down to Properties.
Other Options
Eportal
Within each Eportal class is a chat tool. Once you have your class
set up in Eportal (see the Using Eportal guide), it is easy to enter
this chat space and have students begin talking. Eportal only gives
you one chat space, so it is hard to break the class into groups. Also,
it has no means for saving the chat other than you the instructor copying
and pasting out the discussion.
WebCTs DigiChat
The ACCD district has plugged in DigiChat as the chat tool within WebCT.
You can use some of the open rooms or you can request a room of your
own. I believe transcripts of these discussions can be saved. Contact
220-1616 to ask for your own DigiChat room. You can also create and
use your own DigiChat space even though you are not using WebCT.
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