Discussions

**Here YOU as the instructor will put:**
media type="youtube" key="BlJJoNcV598" height="385" width="480" //**Brief AutoCAD demo reel produced by the AutoCAD designers**//
 * ====Postings about upcoming, asynchronous DISCUSSION sessions (dates, times, units, due dates for submissions, etc.)====
 * ====A list of required reading for individual DISCUSSION sessions====
 * ====Guiding/essential questions for DISCUSSION sessions====
 * ====Online assignments for DISCUSSION sessions (a video, a link to a website, written directions....)====
 * ====Instructor feedback/clarifications or follow up questions/reflections to the whole group, aka class (//notice: individual feedback--suggestions, etc. will be conducted using the Wikispaces e-mail feature, for privacy purposes//)====

**Here you will find:**

 * ====Responses to guiding questions/assignments made by students====
 * ====Peer comments to/reflections on student responses====
 * ====Partner or group presentations (notice: 1. you could require students to upload presentations to their owns student pages and have their peers put comments/reflections concerning these directly onto the student pages. 2. However, it might get too fragmented for you and/or your students if you let them be all over the place, so to speak. It might thus be a good idea to keep individual student introductions and individual student work submitted as part of the online session requirements on the student pages and have only whole group interaction, such as class presentations and classroom discussions occur on the DISCUSSION page).====

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Students have stated that frequent instructor feedback on class discussions was a "draw" that engaged them and that the interaction with peers was a good learning experience.
====A discussion, "... encourages learners to analyze alternative ways of thinking and acting and assists learners in exploring their own experiences so they can become better critical thinkers" (ION, 2008).====

//**What exactly is an "Online Discussion"?**//
====One common definition is by Raleigh (2000) who noted that online discussions are "asynchronous posting of electronic messages by members of a class in a continued conversation on topics designated by the instructor". Discussions may take the form of a blog posting or a journal online, but are most common in online courses in the form of a threaded discussion.==== ====Typically, courses have diverse outcomes, objectives, content and instructors. These inherent differences in content and goals of a course combine with instructor learning and teaching styles so that discussions might take many forms.==== ====There are numerous ways to be creative with discussion formats by using a combination of purposes, such as the list below. What ideas for the use of discussions can you think of for your online courses?====

* Role-playing
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//**References**//
====* Chickering, A. W., & Gamson, Z. F. (1987, March). Seven principles for good practice in undergraduate education. The American Association for Higher Education Bulletin. Available December 2007, from http://honolulu.hawaii.edu/intranet/committees/FacDevCom/guidebk/teachtip/7princip.htm====

* Raleigh, D. (2000, November 15). Keys to facilitating successful online discussions. Teaching with Technology Today, 7(3). Available January 2008, from http://www.uwsa.edu/ttt/raleigh.htm
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