communication in online classes

Warning--this is way too long. To summarize: I am thinking about how I might modify the way I use message boards in my hybrid class based on what I learned in my totally online class. If that is boring to you, stop now. If that sounds interesting in the least, you are just the person I want to hear from!

My summer online class was great. Students participated much more easily and productively online than in the fall. Part of that may be summer--students expect classes to be more intensive than in a regular semester. Another big difference is that this class was totally online instead of a hybrid class that meets in person. In the fall I teach the hybrid class again, so I'm looking at how to carry over the success from this summer, specifically in the message boards.

Students in the hybrid class don't participate as well in the message boards because they consider the face-to-face meetings more important. They don't seem interested in the online part because it's just "supplement," not "real" class. They just go through the motions. Some of the things I did differently in the summer session might help in the fall, though. I give extensive instructions for formal papers, but I wanted the students to take the lead in their discussions, so I tried to leave the instructions more open. I run my on-campus classes that way and I have been successful, but I think that students are less comfortable in the electronic format. While they are online all the time and they are certainly well-versed in electronically mediated conversation, the combination of online communication and class work is fairly new to them. So this time I gave them more specific topics for discussion along with a sample answer for each. In the beginning, they followed the model I offered closely but it didn't take long for them to start shaping the discussions themselves, which was the goal. I think my notion of student-led online discussions was a little too hands-off, and offering just a bit more instruction made a big difference. I think it's a confidence thing--they didn't know what I wanted so they were too cautious to do much of anything.

One challenge of the message boards is to have an actual discussion and not just a string of unrelated entries. I overtly encouraged discussion by suggesting that they take up examples that other students had already mentioned. Each post required an example to support their claim, but I stated in the initial post that they could use an example that another student had already brought up as long as they were adding to the discussion and not just repeating what had been said. That helped as much as any instructions do--it relies on the student to follow directions. I also went back a few times and instead of asking new questions, directed them to the previous thread and required new posts in that discussion. The second time around they did not bring up new examples but had to respond to what was there. That helped a lot, and I'll do it earlier next time. After the first time I did that, I noticed a change in the boards right away--they were more involved with their classmates and not just posting their piece and leaving.

One of my favorite assignments was a required discussion of works in progress. For each paper, I required them to post something--anything--about their papers and to post their theses. I also sent them back to that thread for a second round each time. Students who had no argument figured it out before the paper was due--big step!--and those who had been putting their work off had to get started earlier or they wouldn't have anything to say. I also responded to every post on the board. A few students told me that this open discussion of the writing process taught them better than any other assignments. Success!

I am thinking about a change for the fall, but I haven't made a decision yet. Last spring I held discussions of the readings during our on-campus meetings, not on the message boards. The purpose of the readings in this class are to analyze writing styles, structures, and techniques. I thought that was better done in class so that I could direct the discussion and point out passages and answer questions more efficiently. What happened was that they didn't read and just waited for me to tell them what was important--very little discussion and very little point in the end. In the summer I had them analyze the readings independently and write responses--which included quotes--in the message boards. That was a necessity because there were no on-campus meetings, but I think they ended up doing better. So now I'm considering focusing more on workshop-type activities during on-campus meetings and doing analysis of the readings online in the fall. No sure yet, but I do know my previous method needs to be tweaked (hopefully without the addition of quizzes. I hate giving quizzes.)

Okay--way too long. I'd love your thoughts, especially you online teachers.