Sloan-C Online Workshop: Dynamic Collaboration, Discussion and Facilitation Practices

The Sloan Consortium is offering an online workshop titled "Dynamic Collaboration, Discussion and Facilitation Practices" from May 23 - June 1, 2007. The facilitator of this workshop had this to say in the April 2007 issue of the Sloan-C View monthly newsletter about using adult learning principles like student choice in online discussions:

Radical Andragogy: Malcolm Knowles suggested back in the '70's that adults learn best when they are self-directed. Adult learning apparently thrives as a pull process - where the learner obtains relevant knowledge from the environment experientially. This is a student-centered philosophy. To the extent possible, shouldn't professors offering online classes for adult learners adopt andragogically appropriate strategies to maximize their student's learning opportunities? One such strategy - I call it "Student Led Discussions" - has at its core a simple and logical three step approach to take advantage of each adult student's propensity to pull learning from the environment: read / question / discuss. The 'radical' feature is that the students play the major role in deciding what to read, which questions to ask and answer, and then they, not the professor, facilitate the discussions.

What's the catch? Here is the catch. When students are responsible for determining at least some of the course content, and then teaching it to each other, and it really isn't the professor's job to "pour" all of the knowledge, then the professor's "responsibility to the discipline" may be called into question. To what extent can students be permitted to determine what they read, what questions they discuss, and in general what they learn? Can (undergraduate, community college, ESL, "my" etc.) students ask good questions and facilitate productive discussions? These are important issues that need to be understood and discussed. I now have about 10 years of online teaching experience with a diverse array of courses and students. I have rarely been disappointed with the choices my students made or the results they achieved.

I've been able to experience this very learning strategy in a seminar called "Computer Mediated Communication" I'm taking this semester at Kent with Dr. Albert Ingram and Dr. Karen Swan. Each student leads an online discussion using the blog tool in the Sakai course management system. The profs balance student directed-learning with guidance. Here's a run-down of the method:

1. Students choose an article in which they would like to lead a class discussion. Several articles are provided by the instructors for students to choose from. A student can choose another article if she wants, but will discuss it with the instructors to make sure it fits in with the course and is of good quality.
2. Guidelines on leading the discussion are given to the students. The students are to summarize the article and ask thought-provoking questions.
3. The student facilitator posts the summary and questions using the blog tool.
   
4. Students discuss the article using the facilitator's questions, and the facilitator responds and works to keep the conversation thought-provoking and on task.

I've really enjoyed this type of discussion. I've been in other classes that used a similar method face-to-face. However, the asynchronous nature allows each student to participate and formulate ideas (the biggest argument for using this type of discussion!)

The workshop sounds interesting too. I'll be on vacation in Boston, so if anyone attends, keep me posted!