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My Ideal Online Moderator
By Denise Forgeron

“[O]n-line education can encourage reflective thinking, interactivity and deep learning where students interpret information and apply their knowledge.” (Cashion and Palmieri, 2002). 

Personally, when I entered the online community, it was as if I was being awakened to a whole new world beyond face-to-face or   telephone communications.   I remember being in awe and saying ‘WOW’!  Through my experiences, I can attest to features that made the experience enjoyable so I could concentrate on learning.  Cashion and Palmieri  (2002) note that online teachers “ contribute enormously to the quality of on-line education”.   Online courses should “provide activities that will help the ‘doubters’ accept and use the medium, promote interdependence amongst students and convince them that a community of learners is important because they can learn from other students, not just the instructor" (Cashion and Palmieri, 2002). 

Items to include in assessing an on-line moderator would be:

  • Organization and scholarship of the system by the teacher
  • Student-teacher interactions
    • Prompt feedback
    • Easy access

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  • Teacher organizing student-student interaction (group activities)
    • Asynchronous group discussion
    • Small chat/work groups
  • Realistic activities that promote active learning and the construction of knowledge and independent learning

 ORGANIZATION: When I enter the system I want to see instructions outlined and detailed.    Why?  As an adult, I should be able to chart my learning for the term with this information and begin the work.  I need to know where to start.  I need to know what is expected of me; including the assignments and the minimal amount of time to set aside each week and the  “guidelines for level/quality of participation” (Edelsetein and Edwards, 2002).  I also need to know where to ask questions, how to use the system, what tools are required, and how to access the library of e-journals.  I want to get this information from the instruction information.  I want the links to be up-to-date and be able to access resources on-line.

 TEACHER-STUDENT INTERACTIONS: Personally, I would like to see a welcoming note or email so even though we are in cyberspace I feel like I am part of something.  Experienced on-line facilitators need only make initial greetings, provide notification when they will be on-line or interacting, engage the students in a minimal number of threaded discussions to get the ball rolling, provide supportive responses asynchronously, and correct assignments.  This sounds easy but it goes back once again to the organization of the module activities.  Many teachers find it hard to facilitate and want to lecture or have all student comments directed to themselves and answered by themselves.  It is not easy to let the students construct knowledge.  Students receiving “individual, speedy feedback” and “thoughtful replies” from their teacher are “delighted” with their distance experience (Cashion and Palmieri, 2002).  I was in two courses where the teacher did not interact or respond for a month and the tone of the student-student interactions was not good. 

STUDENT-STUDENT INTERACTIONS: I build energy from the dynamics of finally being able to interact more personally with a couple of people to create something electronically.  This is due to my interpersonal intelligence and also for my desire to learn using hands-on activities.  Students often teach each other about software or web information.  Confidence with the system increases over the program.  I enjoy the support system of knowing that once a week there will be a chat and a chance to ask for information, clarification, etc.  When the teacher includes group work in the course there are usually favorable outcomes.  Students feel validated when there is a response to their posting.

When readings are assigned on a topic and the students reflect on what they feel about the aspect (as in this exercise), learning occurs.  Students like direction in the asynchronous discussion.  A water cooler or student café folder, for those who just want to talk to someone that day, helps with the organization.  I like to read all the postings to know I do not miss anything.  There are others who get overwhelmed with the sight of many postings and do not read all of them.  Some professors give guidelines for postings and suggest the “I agree” or “good posting” comments can be sent individually to prevent cluttering the discussion.    This cuts down on the frustration of the intrapersonal people.  In one course, a fellow made such responses with no support, further information or refuting of the posting.   It became annoying and a few of us believed it was because he knew the system could monitor the quantity of postings.  Assessment guidelines and techniques can hinder or support discussion.   I think it takes a lot of work for the moderator to get the right discussion posting (reflection).   Muilenburg and Berge (2002) reflect on using questions to gain constructivist thinking.

Edelstein and Edwards (2002) believe knowledge is generated through these relationships and interactions.   I participated in one course that was like an online correspondence course.  There was no given reason for the discuusion board.  There was a lack of “structured dialogue” and “sense of community”  as noted by Robertson and Klotz  (2002).


LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES: The interactions with the resources in the system, the discussions and project work among co-learners sharing knowledge and experiences and the time available to reflect allow for greater learning.  “ The engagement and interactivity provided opportunities for collaboration and constructivist learning” (Cashion and Palmieri, 2002).  The moderator has the power to enable all of this personalized teaching. Ho (2002) notes that “students learn from each other’s scholarship, skills and experiences through discussion and interaction” supporting the social learning theories.   Constructing knowledge with “collaborative learning tasks closely approximate the processes of teamwork and collaborative professional writing…frequently (seen) in the workplace (Ho, 2002).  She also reviewed that these interactions support Bloom’s taxonomy in the higher objectives of learning. 

References

Cashion, Joan & Phoebe Palmieri (2002). Relationships On The Line. Paper presented at AusWeb 2002. Retrieved March 31, 2003 at http://ausweb.scu.edu.au/aw02/papers/refereed/quayle/paper.html

 

Edelstein, Susan & Jason Edwards (2002). If You Build It, They Will Come: Building Learning Communities Through Threaded Discussions. Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration, Volume V, Number I, Spring.  Retrieved March 31, 2003  from http://www.westga.edu/~distance/ojdla/spring51/edelstein51.html

 

Gordin, Douglas N., Louis M. Gomez, Roy D. Pea & Barry J. Fishman (1996). Using the World Wide Web to Build Learning Communities in K-12. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication.Volume 2, Number 3: December. . Retrieved march 31, 2003 at http://www.westga.edu/~distance/ojdla/spring51/edelstein51.html

Ho, Suzanne (2002). Evaluating Students' Participation In On-line Discussions. Paper presented at AusWeb 2002. . Retrieved March 31, 2003 at http://ausweb.scu.edu.au/aw02/papers/refereed/ho/paper.html 

 

Muilenburg, Lin & Zane L. Berge (2002). A Framework For Designing Questions For Online Learning. . Retrieved March 31, 2003 at http://ausweb.scu.edu.au/aw02/papers/refereed/ho/paper.html

 

Roberson, Thelma J. & Jack Klotz (2002). How Can Instructors and Administrators Fill the Missing Link in Online Instruction? Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration, Volume V, Number 1V, Winter.  Retrieved March 31, 2003 at http://www.westga.edu/~distance/ojdla/winter54/roberson54.htm 

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Appendix: Education 537 Activity from Diane Janes

Discussion Activity

Take a moment and brainstorm the ideal online moderator for you. Think about the first time you went online vs. now. If you were taking an online course or a course with an online discussion component, for the first time...

  • What characteristics would you want to see?
  • Why?
  • What would you need to know?
  • How would you get this information?
  • What would frustrate you?

Post your reflections in the discussion forum under Unit 4 before the end of Week 13.