The following are some strategies for threaded discussion in a blended learning environment to support KB communities.
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Component of online and face-to-face discussion |
Knowledge building principles |
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Culture · Establishing a respectful, friendly, and open learning environment, e.g., every idea is improvable · Creating tasks and topics that are authentic to the students by encouraging students to ask questions and share ideas, and to constantly referencing student postings in face-to-face interaction · Explain the rationale to students, engage students in knowledge building principles and teachers can also embrace knowledge building · Use emoticons to help convey ideas, set short emotion questionnaire to help students understand their emotions throughout the inquiry and discussion. |
Improvable ideas Symmetrical advancement of knowledge by teachers and students |
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Topics, content, curriculum · Understand the discussions by relating to the topics in the curriculum, as well as to the big ideas of the topics explored in real world, e.g., in a study of cells among 13-year old, look out for students’ questions and ideas about heredity and genes. · Use face-to-face time to address novel questions and conflicting ideas that are posed online. This should be done not only to seek consensus, since consensus can be sought during online interactions · Create a coherent structure to support discussion in both online and face-to-face settings, e.g., idea wall in the class can be set up as an image on KF to allow discussions to continue · Use analytics to help students identify their own contributions, e.g., teachers can respond to postings that are flagged unread · Encourage regular reflection by creating individual and collective reflection spaces |
Rise-above Pervasive knowledge building Democratizing of knowledge |
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Role of teacher · Constantly reference student postings in face-to-face interaction (see culture) · Help shape the online discussion with questions, new information or ideas in posts, and gradually move away from being the initiator during online discussions · Kick start a conversation by summarising the online discussions during face-to-face interactions, and allow students to do so likewise in order to practice higher-order thinking · Encourage students to revisit online topics, questions, issues and ideas even after the formal closure of the lessons, so that the activity is not constrained by the lesson duration · Create tasks that are authentic to students, engage them with their questions and ideas (See culture). |
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Format of discussion · Create open discussions for the class and small group discussions, but allow students to visit each other’s discussion spaces · Allow diversity and highlight interesting ideas (promising ideas) to sustain interest and motivation · Encourage the use of short 5-word titles in notes to help students summarise their notes · Encourage the use of scaffolds and focus on ideas, not on spelling and grammar in the online posts. Teacher may use annotations to help students correct, or encourage students to use embedded spell-check (see culture about friendly, respectful, and open learning environment) |
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Organisation · Organise topical resources into folders with exact titles, but also create an organic discussion space for the various topics · Establish a metaphorical architecture to support the discussion, aligned to pedagogy. For example, use the “sandbox” view for testing features, and different other views for respective purposes (“Any other question” view, “individual portfolio” view, “community resource” view · Establish whole class and small group working spaces, but ensure they remain open |
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Assessment · Conduct ongoing and regular formative assessment using learning analytics, by encouraging students to reflect on how they can learn better, not just based on what they have learnt. For example: “What is the current gap in the class’s understanding of cells?” “What can students do to find out more?” · Consider the content, frequency, and the way students contribute to the community, along with the approach that students adopt to solve the problem, during assessment (holistic assessment, 21CC and content) · Let students participate and understand the rubrics · Allow changes to be made to the rubric and ensure these changes are visible to all parties, so that students possess the responsibility to check on the rubric |
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