Online Teaching Is Not the Same as In Class Teaching. Discuss.

Over the past 5 years I have taken a total of 10 (ten) online graduate courses through Purdue University Northwest, Indiana Wesleyan, and Indiana University all in an effort to be meet the Higher Learning Commission's criteria to teach dual credit courses. The course design has been similar for each. Students login to some learning management system, get the assignments, work on them, submit them, etc. There is one element of course design, however, that has been the most beneficial for both myself and the other students in the class; online discussion. Not every course I took had online discussions, but the ones that did were the most engaging.

Inserted from GIPHY

The way the online discussions would work is each week the students and the professor would engage in online discussion about the assignments for that week. The questions would be posted, someone would reply with an idea of how to start, others would offer criticism or support, or continue with the next step. Everyone would explain their thinking or ask for someone else to clarify theirs. The instructor would intervene at various points if the discussion was veering away from the solution. The problems in the assignment were good for teaching the skills, but the discussions were excellent at fostering understanding. So much so that the discussions were more effective at teaching the concepts than the assignments. 

This is not to say that in class discussions are not valuable. They are. But in this current pandemic, when many schools may be open entirely online or many students may be opting for online attendance, online discussions serve as a way to connect all learners. 

At the time of this writing, I am still looking for a viable web service that will allow the type of discussions I am looking for. Google Classroom could work. Although I teach Math, and I would like my students to be able to enter the correct notation using something like LaTeX. Classroom discussions do not permit that. My dual credit courses have access to Canvas through Indiana University, so that may be an option for those students. But I will continue to search for for a platform for my Algebra 1 and Algebra 2 courses.

Based on my experience, however, here is a list of Do's and Don'ts for online discussions.

DO require participation. DON'T be a jerk. Provide an alternative for students who have no or spotty internet connectivity or could otherwise not participate.

DO grade the discussion. Grade for participation. DON'T grade for correctness. It's a discussion, there will likely be incorrect thinking at the start.

DO participate in the discussion as the instructor. Not too much and not too little. DON'T disappear on them.

DO moderate for inappropriate activity. DON'T let discussions devolve into petty arguments.

DO ask questions and ask students to explain their thinking. That's the whole point of discussing. DON'T provide answers yourself. The longer the discussion goes and the more students contribute (appropriately), the better.