Rubrics assess the participation in a collaborative learning community. Students should be aware of the expectations for participation. Rubrics should include a point scale that indicates the varying levels of expectations. For example, if participation is worth ten points, then the scale should explain the expectations for a student to earn ten points, nine points, eight points, etc. It would also be beneficial for the instructor to pre-assess the students for varying levels of skill and knowledge. The expectation should be for each student to show progression throughout the course. Participation should be relevant to the discussion topic and be completed by the due dates provided by the instructor.
If a student does not want to network or collaborate in a learning community for an online course, the other members of the learning community should encourage him or her to participate. They could purposely ask him or her questions to solicit a response. The instructor should encourage participation by modeling the expected type of responses. If these tactics are not effective, the instructor should send a private email to the individual student having difficulty participating, to inquire about the lack of participation. The lack of participation should have a negative impact of the student’s grade due to not meeting the participation expectations.
The instructor is the facilitator in the online environment. He promotes a friendly social environment. He sets the agenda, pace, objective, and rules (Palloff and Pratt, 2007). The instructor has to create a community that is intellectually challenging for all levels simultaneously. He has to encourage students to do their best, keep the learners on topic and use a variety of learning activities (Palloff and Pratt, 2007). However, the instructor is not expectected to motivate a student that is dissinterested in completing the expectations of the course. The students in the learning community have to be encouraging, respectful, and involved. They have a responsibility to each other for the successful outcome of the course. With this in mind, participation is vital for learning outcomes in a discussion forum.
Resources
Laureate Education, Inc. (2008). Principles of Distance Education. Baltimore: Siemens, G.
Paloff, R. & Pratt, K. (2005). Collaborating online: Learning together in community. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass
Sabrina,
ReplyDeleteI agree that rubrics are helpful for assessing collaboration. It helps the students to see what the expectations are for participation. I also like what you said about the instructor being the facilitator. I agree that it is not the instructor's job to motivate a student who is disinterested, but I do think they should encourage a student to collaborate when the lack of collaboration may not be a result of disinterest. Do you think an instructor should ever suggest that perhap online/distance education is not the right thing for a student who does not like to collaborate?
Hi, Sabrina,
ReplyDeleteI echo Sara's comments. In answer to her question, I would say that an instructor should never suggest DE is not the right thing for a student. I believe it would be better to focus on overcoming that dislike.
For rubrics, I would suggest teAchnology at http://www.teach-nology.com/web_tools/rubrics/.
It provides worksheets, lesson plans, rubrics, and other resources online.