Os IGNORANTES, que acham saber tudo, privam -se de um dos maiores prazeres da vida: APRENDER.
Início Tecnologia Instrucional ELETRONIC DISCUSSIONS FROM A LEARNING PERSPECTIVE

ELETRONIC DISCUSSIONS FROM A LEARNING PERSPECTIVE

 

 
Introduction
The radical transformation of work brought about by the Internet has had important effects in the area of teaching and learning. Through electronic communication, for example,
  • Teachers can post syllabi and course materials on home pages, bulletin boards, or group mail lists.
  • Teachers can make class announcements and assignments through electronic mail.
  • Teachers can discuss course topics electronically with individual students or groups of students.
  • Students can talk with other students about course topics and projects.
  • Students can access information on remote servers through the World Wide Web.
  • Students can share drafts of written work with the instructor or peers for review and suggestions.
Experts agree that the use of any form of instructional technology in teaching must begin with goals for the learner. Continuing discussion focuses on how teachers can use these technologies effectively through the choices that they make and the ways in which they structure technology-assisted instruction.
This handbook provides advice for instructors on one particular use of instructional technology-the use of electronic communication to extend class discussion beyond the time and place of class meetings. It is based on a study of several Ohio State classes that employed such electronic class discussions, recommendations of students and faculty, and advice from experts in the field. The main goal of the handbook is to help instructors use this form of technology thoughtfully and effectively, given their course goals.
 
 

 
 
 
 

 

 
 
Why Discussion Is Important in Learning
 
Current learning theory holds that meaningful learning requires the learner to interact with new information in a way that will enable comprehension and recall. Comprehension is aided by clear presentation of the information, links to the prior experience of the learner, and opportunities for the learner to work with the information. Recall is much more likely if the learner has the opportunity to fit the information within the structures that he or she has assembled to logically organize ideas, facts, and concepts. Both comprehension and recall occur within a social context, which affects motivation and attention, as well as providing cues for comprehension and recall. As students actively engage in new learning, they can move to higher levels of cognition, involving applying and evaluating knowledge. (Useful overviews of current learning theory for the college instructor are in Bruning, 1994, and Casazza & Silverman, 1996.)
Some ways in which information is most likely to be learned, therefore, include:
  • Opportunities to establish personal connections with the information: to identify ways in which it is like something that has already been experienced or learned and how it is different
  • Chances to work with the new information:
- to explore how it fits within the structure of ideas already encountered (is it a contradiction, is it an extension, etc.?)
- to test out ideas about the information (would this be so if, does this apply to, is this a case of?)
- or to rephrase, summarize, or teach to others

  • An open, comfortable environment in which questions can be asked, ideas tried, anxieties expressed
  • Prompt feedback to the learner on how successfully the information is being understood
There are many ways to support learning, but discussion and writing are two very powerful ones. Traditional classroom instruction has made extensive use of these formats. Electronic communication now makes it possible to use discussion and writing in at least two additional ways:
  • To enhance a regular classroom-based course by using out-of-class time and a different communication vehicle to supplement classroom meetings
  • To provide interaction in a distance learning course by engaging students in actively responding rather than simply reading or viewing course materials
 
 
 
 
 

 

 
 
Advantages of Electronic Class Discussion
 
Electronic class discussion has some obvious advantages: it extends class "time" by providing for the exchange of ideas outside the class setting; it is not time or place dependent so extra work outside the class is possible for students who are not nearby or who have schedule conflicts; it can be easily archived so that the instructor has a record of the kind and amount of participation and the ways in which students are thinking; it can enable prompt feedback by the instructor or by peer learners; and in the case of distance courses, it can establish a social environment that will help motivate the learner and create a forum within which ideas can be tested and applied.
The first studies of electronic class discussion have revealed some additional advantages: it appears to be an effective communication vehicle for some students who are normally reluctant to talk in live settings and it seems to be especially helpful when controversial or sensitive material is being encountered (Bump, 1993; Combs, 1993; Hettinger, 1995; McQuail, 1994; Ruberg & Taylor, 1995). Rather than being a "cold" medium, electronic communication seems to provide a forum for humor, creativity, exchange of personal information and assistance. Students can express ideas when they are so motivated and they can do so at their own pace, taking the time to think and edit themselves, which is not normally abundant in a live discussion. Participation then does not depend on speed of response or assertiveness.
 

 

 
 

 

 
 
Disadvantages of Electronic Class Discussion
 
In electronic discussion environments that are in "real" time, such as chat rooms where all the participants are logged on at the same time and see each others' comments as they are entered, many of the advantages of live conversation are present. However, in text-only formats (in contrast to formats with sound and video), the writing and typing skill necessary for communication might preclude the participation of some and certainly slow down the exchange speed for all. In text-only formats, important social cues, such as nonverbal communication, tone, and pitch are absent, despite the attempt of users to create typographical symbols for smiles, frowns, and the like. Most importantly, real time electronic discussions, as all electronic discussions, require access to functional hardware and software, and knowledge of how to use these tools. This innovation does not address the scheduling problem of obtaining the availability of all students at the same time.
When participants use electronic communication at different times, logging on when their own schedules permit, there are additional disadvantages. The lag time between one comment and another may cause the discussion to become sluggish or may cause some confusion about which comment is being referred to. Just as in live discussion, some participants can dominate (although the quieter or slower ones can still be "heard"), especially if they have better access to the electronic connection than others.
 

 

 
 
 
 

 

 
 
Goals for the Electronic Discussion
 
Just as there should be a reason for the use of in-class discussion, it is important that electronic discussions be planned to complement what happens in the rest of the course. Some possible uses and examples are below.
  • Electronic discussions can be used for building group among the students. The main goal is social: students are encouraged to get to know each other so that other tasks can be accomplished. For example, a professor in an education course involving information exchange between practicing public school teachers and her students wanted the group to get to know each other so that their interactions later would be more meaningful. Students were able to ask the teachers to talk about such things as their backgrounds and their students' characteristics. The teachers learned about the university students' interests by asking them about such things as their hometowns, hobbies, or areas of specialization. Similarly, a business instructor in a seminar for students doing a common MBA program wanted the students to develop a sense of group that would sustain them through their program. He wanted them to know which students were from similar geographic locations, which came from the same industrial or corporate fields, and the like.
  • Electronic discussions can be used for information sharing. A common collaborative learning approach is called the jigsaw. In this approach, different people in a learning group read or learn about different things and then have the responsibility to share their information with the group. An electronic version of this approach would have students researching a topic from different perspectives or looking at different aspects of a broad topic, bringing specified kinds of information to the group, and so on. One example of this approach occurred in a food additives course in which the instructor asked the students to post the ingredients from unusual food labels to the group, along with their hypotheses and questions about the function of certain ingredients in the food product. The discussion was aimed toward establishing a label collection (as well as stimulating an interactive problem-based discussion on the topic of additives). Similarly, students in a political science course were asked to discuss information they found on the web pertinent to public opinion polling. These web sources were also used in research papers for an end-of-course assignment.
 
  • Electronic discussions can be used for processing ideas. Whether information is presented to students through lecture, textbook or supplementary readings, text or audiovisual material on a home page, it can be processed by students together through electronic discussion. A law professor set up a listserver for her students to discuss assigned cases before each session. Based on this discussion, she targeted remarks in class to those points that she felt the students also needed to consider. The instructor also had a good sense of areas that she did not need to treat in class. A communication professor asked students to discuss the building of electronic social communities and other issues relevant to technology through an electronic discussion, thus calling upon them to create a community and social norms as they used the medium itself. Many instructors use electronic discussions as a way of allowing students to elaborate upon discussions that were begun in class, thereby extending the time available for the discussion and allowing others who are more comfortable with mail than spoken discussion to participate.
  • Electronic discussions can be used as tutorials. Students can receive extra practice in skills needed in a course or can obtain study assistance. One economics professor used electronic discussions to review before examinations. Students asked questions of each other and this instructor and all got to see the answers
  • Electronic discussions can be used to further the communication skills of students. Such "process skills" as communication, critical thinking, and creative thinking cut across all content areas and can be approached through engaging students in electronic discussions. A theatre instructor in a content writing course posed open-ended discussion questions periodically for students to address through electronic discussion. The assignment was to encourage practice in framing written arguments in an interactive situation. A French conversation instructor asked each student to lead an electronic discussion over the course of a week on a topic of their choice (such as favorite music and restaurants). This activity added written dialogue to the instructor's goal of spoken fluency.
  • Electronic discussions can be used to provide feedback to students. A frequent use of this format is for students to share ideas for paper or speech topics or drafts of their work for others to critique. While specialized programs are available that mark the ways in which others would suggest changes right on the text, the more general software that is commonly in use still permits the exchange of reactions among peers and teacher.
For most instructors, however, any approach serves a combination of goals. For example, one instructor will want exchange of information, critical thinking, and tutorials all from electronic class discussion. Most will see the discussion as complementing other approaches that are taken in the course. The important thing is that there is some clarity regarding the goals of the electronic discussion because other instructional decisions are related to these goals.
Instructors can also choose to use electronic discussion for the duration of the course or for only selected parts. They can engage all students in electronic discussion or make electronic discussion an option for those who choose it. One instructor, for example, gave students "processing options," by which students could respond to outside readings by writing a standard individual journal, by joining an out-of-class discussion group, or by joining an electronic discussion group. Only those who chose the electronic discussion group (plus any who chose another option but wanted to "lurk" on the electronic discussion) were subscribed to the group. Yet another option is to bring one or more outside experts into the discussion occasionally. For example, in one course using electronic format to discuss outside readings, the author of the assigned reading for the week was added to the list so that she could respond directly to the students.