Jan 07 2009
Group Discussions
Group discussions are a huge part of the online college learning experience. You communicate with your online college classmates by using the class’s online discussion board. You are usually told to make one initial response to the discussion board topics. You are then asked to read the rest of your classmates responses and reply to at least two people. You are usually told to include in text citations and write at least a paragraph for each of your responses. This is a good way to discuss important topics in your classes. The teachers usually come in and post their responses in bold. They also ask additional questions after you post your responses so they can make sure that you understand the content that they are teaching. I like group discussions online. It is a great way to see the varying views on topics and participate and get to know you classmates.
One Response to “Group Discussions”
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I have really enjoyed group discussions in online classes. I tend to “over participate” which is not always good. A lot of the success of an online discussion really depends on the group dynamic, and the moderator skill.
What do you think is the optimal class size to have a good discussion? I have noticed that in classes with 5 or fewer the discussions don’t seem to go as well as when you have a larger group, say 10 students or so. It has been my observation that when the group gets much larger than 10 it becomes difficult to follow if you have a bunch of overzealous posters.
-Loren
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