Practicum Reflection Sept 10

This week in my practicum with NCVPS, we focused on communication between teachers, students and parents. We talked about what an eLA is and why its very important to work very closly with our eLA.

NCVPS is very strict on communication. We must keep a communication journal and keep very detailed notes on any and all levels of communication, even communication through email. Students are to be contacted the weekend before school starts. This is called a "welcome call". These welcome calls are used to gather more information, like parent email, alternate phone numbers, etc.

We also learned how to handle different situations that may require intervention. For example, what to do if a student is in danger of harming themselves or being harmed. If a teacher thinks that a student needs intervention, is it very important to call the instructional director and instructional leader, given it is immediate danger. Email will suffice if there is no threat for immediate danger.

My favorite part of this weeks discussion was the communication scenarios. Were we given scenarios where we had to talk about how we would handle them while staying true to NCVPS standards/protocols.

I'm going to place the questions below (paraphrased versions). You tell me how you would have responded.

1. You have a student with low skill levels. She  usually takes a long time to work through her assignments, but all of a sudden, she is submitting work that far exceeds what you know her ability to be. You have a strong suspicion someone may be doing the work for her. How do you proceed?

2. You are connecting with parents. You reach a parent of a student who is immediately rude and standoffish on the phone. In fact, she tells you, “I have given up on her. Please do not call me again.” How do you proceed in supporting this student and parent? *

Practicum Reflection Sept 3rd

This semester is currently the last semester of my 2nd masters degree!! Exciting right?!!

In December, 2017, I will officially have a MAT (Masters in the Art of Teaching) with a certification in OTID (Online Teaching and Instructional Design). But before I celebrate I must complete a few tasks.

At the top of the list of those tasks is my practicum. I am doing my practicum with NCVPS (North Carolina Virtual Public Schools). I am super excited about this opportunity because it gives me the tools and skills needed to be a successful online educator. In my current face-to-face class, I am working on a gamified model. This model requires a lot of skills that online teachers must master. Which is why I am so excited to be allotted the opportunity to be apart of this year's cohort.

The program is broken up into two, 8-week sessions: course work and student teaching. You must be recommended to move on to the student teaching session before you are approved to student teach. Hence, it is very important to stick to the goals of the first 8-weeks. These goals include learning NCVPS's rules and regulations on:


Week 2: Instructional Model
Week 3: Communication
Week 4: Making Announcements
Week 5: Grades and Feedback
Week 6: Individualization
Week 7: Evaluation and Support

So far things are going well with these goals and I am on track. The course work is very informing and I am truly enjoy learning new information. This week we talked about communication and what things we should and should not include in emails. This practicum is going to truly change my life, and I can't wait to embrace the change

UDLs vs Gagne's Nine Events of Instruction: A Critique and Comparison of Instructional Design Models

Instructional design is the science behind the study and improvement of developing, delivering, and evaluating instruction and instructional practices. (Brown & Green, 2016). Take a look at the excerpt from Brown and Green on the four part definition of instructional design.

Brown, A.H., & Green, T.D. (2016). The essentials of instructional design: Connecting fundamental principles with process and practice (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Routledge.

Over the years, scholars and practitioners have developed multiple models that help explain and map out some of the best frameworks for designing instruction. Two of the models that we will discuss here include the Universal Design for Learning model (UDL) and Gagne's Nine Events of Instruction model.

Universal Design For Leaning (UDL) Model. 

The UDL instructional design model is a model that focuses on what, when, and how people learn. This model focuses on the science behind learning, and applies it to its three main principles: multiple means of representation, multiple means of action and expression, and multiple means of engagement. For an elaboration of these principles, take a look at this excerpt also taken from the text by Brown and Green. 

Brown, A.H., & Green, T.D. (2016). The essentials of instructional design: Connecting fundamental principles with process and practice (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Routledge.

In Layman's terms, the UDL framework believes that there is not "one type of learner" hence their should not be "one way to learn". This model encourages instructional design frameworks that speaks to everyone; from the purposeful learner, to the knowledgeable learner, and the goal oriented learner.  

Take a moment to view the following  picture as  a visual way of representing the previous information. 

http://www.cast.org/our-work/about-udl.html#.WWWltojyvIU

But why do we NEED UDLs? Now of course there are other ways to design learning, but UDLs are just one of the major concepts that educator have chosen to follow due to this model's design to cater to students with disabilities and setbacks. or high levels of thinking. Listen to the following video as gerontologist, Leacey Brown, talks about the importance of UDLs for all!

 Gagne's Nine Events of Instruction

Some Instructional Design models are built in the form of a checklist, giving the users very specific instructions (or steps, if you will) on how to design their instruction. One of these such models, is Gagne's Nine Events of Instruction.

https://www.slideshare.net/MirandaE23/robert-gagne-learning-and-instruction

Robert Gagne was an educational physiologist that came up with a theory called, "The Conditions of Learning. His theory stipulates that there are several different types of learning and each different type requires different types of instruction. Through this his was able to identify five different categories of learning.

http://oldsmooc1week1learningdesigndefinition.pbworks.com/w/page/62589007/Learning%20Design

Gagne built his Nine Events of instruction based off of these five categories of leaned capabilities. He essentially argues that these skills can be organized into a hierarchy which can be used to identify prerequisites that should be completed to ensure learning at each level. 

Critique and Compare: My personal Views

Both of these Instructional Design models are of my favorite models. They both agree on the idea that there is not one specific way of learning and that each way needs to be handled differently. However, I do tend to agree or lean towards the UDL model over Gagne. UDLs allots for much more flexibility than Gagne's 9 events of Instruction. With a UDL, order does not matter. You simple build your instruction in the manner that suits your preferences, while being intentional about creating multiple means of instruction and activities. There is no need to be sure to write your objectives before creating your instruction; or recalling prior knowledge before providing guidance. Whatever order works best for you, UDLs gives you that level of flexibility.This ensures that every type of learner is catered to. I also love the fact that it expands the horizons of each learner. Students may be stronger visual learns, but they still have access to the auditory material, inevitably strengthening their auditory comprehension skills. Now students able to both understand and grow!

Gagne's 9 events of instructional is a much more intentional model. It gives very specific steps to follow and what order to complete them in. Unfortunately, it take away the idea of flexibility. However, I will say this: There is nothing more stress relieving than to know that I may not know exactly where to begin or end, but if I follow these steps or use a checklist, I am guaranteed to get it right! Gagne allots for that luxury. Take a moment to view the following checklist created to aide with building instruction using Gagne's 9 Events of Instruction.

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/490962796860612408/

Great checklist right?! I was so ecstatic to find such a simple and easy way to ensure that I incorporate all aspects of Gagne's model.

Take a look at the very last section of this checklist. Notice anything familiar? Gagne enforces the same idea that UDLs identified; the idea of choices! Both model realize the importance of ensuring that there is student choice; and not just for assignments and content, but for rewards and challenges. Students love to feel that they have some level of control over their education and I believe that it is important that they do have this small level of control. Student interest begins and ends with choice and it is an aspect of instructional design that I will be sure to always incorporate.

Conclusion

Instructional Design models are used to ensure that instruction is given in the best way to ensure the best learning practices. UDLs focus on research that have been proven to show how, what, and why a person learns. Gagne's Nine Events of instruction focuses on creating a hierarchy of instruction that can be used to develop prerequisites to ensure learning at each level. Both models covers the idea of fostering choice. While one model is deliberate in the process of designing instruction and the other focuses on what to design WITHIN the instruction. I general love both model, but prefer the flexibility of UDLs.

Bibliography

Brown, A. H., & Green, T. D. (2016). The essentials of instructional design: connecting fundamental principles with process and practice. New York, London: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.

Conditions of Learning (Robert Gagne). (n.d.). Retrieved July 12, 2017, from http://www.instructionaldesign.org/theories/conditions-learning.html

The Use of Instructional Design Practices in a Gamified Cirriculum: How UDLs are so important in Quest-Based Learning

What is a UDL?

The way in which one designs their instruction speaks volume about the instructor that they are, as well as the instructor that they will one day become. This is why there has been enormous amounts of research geared toward the best practices to successfully design instruction. These methods include, but are not limited to; Revised Blooms Taxonomy, A.D.D.I.E, and Merrill's First Principles of Instruction. But my favorite of them all is a method called Universal Design for Learning.

Universal Design for Learning is a instructional design framework that intentionally focuses on why, what, and how people learn. This framework uses the knowledge that scientist have both researched and proven to be the most effective ways of learning.

As most people already know, learning is not just a one way street. Everyone takes different routes to make it to the same destination. Hence, the overall goal and three main principles of this instructional design framework is: to use multiple means of representation, engagement, and action and expression to capitalize on ones learning experience. In layman's terms, this framework works to afford each and every student equal opportunity to learn through the usage of multiple learning venues. Take a look at the following picture below. It will give you a visual approach to understanding the above information.

http://udloncampus.cast.org/page/udl_about#.WWUB94jyvIU

Now take a look at this video as well. This will give you an auditory approach to understanding the above information.

This is an example of applying the UDL model. By presenting this information to you in multiple means, I have fulfilled one of the three main principles of the UDL framework; multiple means of representation.

Using a UDL in a Quest-Based Learning Environment.

As a high school math teacher, I am constantly research ways to enhance the learning of each of my students. My latest project is building a fully gamified learning environment, centered around quest based learning.

What is Quest-Based learning.

"Quest-based learning is an instructional design theory that leverages game mechanics and gamer-like learning communities to support student choice within the curriculum, and offers promising pedagogical possibilities in the area" (Chris Haskell, 2013). Simply put, quest based learning is taking the idea of our everyday games and applying those mechanics to an educational curriculum. Haskell points out these very specific features:

• Quest-based learning incorporates game mechanics, and gamer-like learning communities. 

• Game-based feedback tools like experience points, progress bars, badges, and achievements are motivating and meaningful to students. 

• Students in a quest-based course received higher grades overall when compared to traditional course. 

• Students do more work on average using quest-based learning. 

• On average, students complete quest-based learning design courses in less time than traditional courses. 

• Over 65% of students remain persistent in quest-based learning, continuing to quest beyond the minimum required to receive a “A.”

To learn more about quest-based learning, visit Understanding Quest-Based Learning.

Incorporating an UDL.

I began to build my quested-based learning curriculum in the early part of June. This was before I learned about the UDL instructional design. I simply built my framework off of the different experiences I've encountered as a 3rd year math teacher. I had no idea that I was essentially building my framework around the UDL instructional design.

As you know, the three main priciples of an UDL is to use multiple means of representation, engagement, and action and expression to capitalize on ones learning experience. But what we have not discussed as of yet, is how to apply an UDL. Consider the following checklist to help with applying an UDL:

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/490962796860612408/

Which principles did I already incorporate and what can I improve?

One of the best features of the quest-based learning model is the ability to present the information in multiple ways. Before I decided to incorporate a quest-based learning model, I used a flipped classroom model. This is simply changing all lectures into video lesson where the students can view at home, allotting the full class time for practice. Due to my previously recorded video lessons I am able to present the material in multiple representations. Not only are the students given a video lesson to view and hear, they are also given several examples of the material through pictures and discussions. 

In addition to being able to learn the material in multiple ways, Quest-based learning allows me to foster choice in my classroom. For each individual standard, I build multiple quest that range in point value. Now the students can pick and choose which ever quest genuinely sparks their interest. The quest range in activities from writing entries, arts and crafts, online video games, to real world application. 

Another aspect of this framework that I have incorporated through quest-based learning, is ongoing feedback. Students, as they submit quest, are given written feedback on their material that they turn in. In addition, they are constantly earning points, gaining rank, and being awarded badges as they fulfill the desired requirements. Student no longer wait until they take a midweek quiz or unit test, they know exactly how they are doing each and everyday.

Although I have, in my opinion, very successfully incorporated an UDL into my quest-based learning framework, there are still a few aspects that I need to reconsider. One thing to consider is accommodating my EC students so that they are not penalized. One option that I have been thinking about, is building my quest around the priority standards vs the entire curriculum. 

This means that I would like to set up my quest based learning model in a way that each and every student are only "required" to complete the quest associated with the listed priority standards. This allows for the EC students to take their time and truly understand the standards that show up the most on state exams while still have a chance to successfully pass the class. It also allows for those students that have a very clear understanding of the material to keep moving forward to the "non-priority" standards without being held back. I do hope to gain a better insight as to how I can incorporate this change and still make it equitable to every student within my class.

Conclusion

Many teachers do not realize it, but they use bits and pieces of instructional designs that have been scientifically proven to be very successful. As I began to build my quest-based learning framework and research instructional design models, I realized that I was using a Universal Design for Learning frame work. The thee main principles of the framework are to use multiple means of representation, engagement, and action and expression to capitalize on ones learning experience. As I continue to build my quest based learning framework around the UDL model, I need to be sure to incorporate more accommodations so that my students are successful across the board, regardless of any learning disabilities or other setbacks!.

Reflection of Methods for Online Teaching

In the Spring semester of 2017, I was privileged with the opportunity of taking a course entitled: Methods of Online Teaching and Learning. We explored methods of teaching through blended learning and gamification. In addition to teaching through communication and feedback, both asynchronous and synchronous facilitation, and the most promising practices of an online educator.

With such a massive amount of information gained this semester, I want to touch on just a few topics:

Gamification

This was my favorite discussion of the semester. As a previous student in this Professor, Dr. Linton's, class; I was able to personally experience gamifying my learning. I knew then that this was a method of teaching that I would use in my personal classroom one day. Hence, I was very excited to learning more about gamifying. 

Gamification is the idea of taking gaming mechanic ( points, scoreboards, levels, badges etc) and applying them to the given curriculum. Although it does include playing games, it is not centered around playing an actual game; but rather using the "rules and regulations" of the gaming world. There are so many exciting ways that an educator can bring the idea of gamification to life in their classroom. I have already begun to put the plan in motion for a fully gamified curriculum in my NC Math 1 course. I look forward to sharing it!

Blended Learning

Blended learning was a small review for me in this semester course. As a current MAT candidate I have come across this terminology a few times as well as currently use one type of blended learning model in my classroom. 

Blended learning is the idea of taking online digital media and combining it with the classroom methods. The two basic categories: brick-and-mortar and online learning. Within these two categories we have four basic types: rotation model; flex model; a la carte model; and enriched virtual model. The rotation model is the most commonly used model as it includes these learning styles: station rotation, lab rotation, flipped classroom and individual rotation. Many teachers has begun to blend there classroom as a way to bring 21st century learning to their students. 

Synchronous vs Asynchronous Learning.

Finally we have synchronous vs asynchronous learning. This is the idea that asynchronous learning is conducted mainly in a video format where each student is virtually present at the same time, while synchronous learning is conducted through discussion and chats where each student asks and answers questions, in a sense, at their leisure. 

Coming into this class I had no Idea was the difference was between these two learning styles. I just knew sometimes I answered question on discussion boards while other times I was in a live video chat. Learning the difference between the two gave me a chance to think of ways to implement them into my gamification model for this next school year. I plan to have many discussion boards in place for my students to express their way of thinking for the different topics in class. I also look forward to sharing this as well.

Overall this class has opened my thinking when it comes to way to change the way my students are able to learn. I am very excited for the future and look forward to sharing my ideas of education that I continuously learn in course such as this!

Teaching Through Communication and Feedback

What is Feedback

According to authors Greg C Lee and Cheng Chih-Wu "The provision of feedback to students is an important aspect of teaching and learning processes. It is often a necessary requirement for the stimulation of self‐reflection" (Leenm,Weinn; 2007). Feedback is defined by Webster dictionary as "information about reactions to a product, a person's performance of a task, etc., used as  a basis for improvement." In lament terms it is the criticism of a person's work, whether positive or negative to increase productivity.  In the classroom  teachers  use feedback to create a  better learning atmosphere for them and their students and vice versa. "Among all instructional development efforts, the most promising way of fundamentally changing post-secondary teaching is to provide faulty with individualized formative feedback. In this process, information about an instructor's teaching is connected, summarized, and fed back to the faculty member.(Brinko, 2016)

What Is Communication

"Educators have become so involved with delivering the curricula that they forget to acknowledge 'how' they deliver the curricula." (Johnson, 1999) In the aforementioned statement Maeetta B. Johnson endeavors to bring up the discussion of how education has become void of  communication and overgrown with testing. According to Webster communication is the imparting or exchanging of information or news. Education is evolving in the sense teachers are using communication in their students learning experience. Tools such as discussion board,  participation grading,  and student rated feedback allow for open discussions in the classroom environment. Generally,student ratings may serve three functions: (1) aiding administrative evaluations of teaching effectiveness for decisions concerning pay increases, promotion, and tenure; (2) providing feedback to teachers for the purpose of improving instruction; and (3) helping students select courses and instructors. (Cohen, 1980)

Communication and Feedback in The Classroom

"Rick Wormelli author of the article "ACCOUNTABILITY: TEACHING THROUGH ASSESSMENT AND FEEDBACK, NOT GRADING" stated "Grading policies such as refusing to accept late work, giving grades of  such as refusing to accept late work, giving grades of zero, and refusing to allow students to redo their work may be intended as punishment for poor performance, but such policies will not really teach students to be accountable, and provide very little useful information about students' mastery of the material."  Students tend to learn and comprehend,  in contrast to memorization,  when they aren't concerned about testing. Often times students fear the test causing complications such as test anxiety, inability to digest material, even stress to the point of needing medical attention . Other classroom complications include the inability to comprehend intellectual languages. Dr. Robert Williams's B.I.T.C.H. Test discuss how African American testers score lower on test based on Caucasian dialect versus the counter of sciring exceedingly well when information and tests where communicated in terms privy to their culture. In the Article "Black Intelligence Test of Cultural Homogeneity and Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale scores of Black and White police applicants" written by authors Joseph D. Matarazzo and , Arthur N. Wiens when completing their experiment there where "non-overlapping distributions of scores on the BITCH, with no White Ss scoring above Black Ss." This further solidifies that basing the classroom on communicative further opens the classroom dialect allowing students to provide feedback proving their level of understanding the material.

References

Brinko, K. T. (1993). The Practice of Giving Feedback to Improve Teaching: What Is Effective? The Journal of Higher Education, 64(5), 574.

Cohen, P. A. (1980). Effectiveness of student-rating feedback for improving college instruction: A meta-analysis of findings. Research in Higher Education, 13(4), 321-341. doi:10.1007/bf00976252

Johnson, M. B. (1998, November 30). Communication in the Classroom. Retrieved May 05, 2017, from https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED436802

Lee, G. C., & Wu, C. (2006). Enhancing the teaching experience of pre‐service teachers through the use of videos in web‐based computer‐mediated communication (CMC). Innovations in Education and Teaching International, 43(4), 369-380.

Matarazzo, J. D., & Wiens, A. N. (1977). Black Intelligence Test of Cultural Homogeneity and Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale scores of Black and White police applicants. Journal of Applied Psychology,62(1), 57-63.

Wormeli, R. (summer 2006). ACCOUNTABILITY: TEACHING THROUGH ASSESSMENT AND FEEDBACK, NOT GRADING. AMERICAN SECONDARY EDUCATION, 34(3), 14-27

Synchronous Learning and Methods of Facilitation

Asynchronous Facilitation vs Synchronous Facilitation

Approximately two weeks ago, I wrote about methods to successfully facilitate asynchronous meetings. Now we are going to cross over into the world of synchronous facilitation, but before we begin, we need to understand the the difference between the two methods.

http://dejulioa.weebly.com/synchronous-vs-asynchronous.html

According to Stefan Hrastinski in his article Asynchronous and Synchronous E-Learning: A study of asynchronous and synchronous e-learning methods discovered that each supports different purposes, Asynchronous e-learning is commonly facilitated by media such as email and discussion boards while synchronous e-learning is commonly facilitated by videoconferences and chats (Hrastinski, 2008). Plainly stated, asynchronous learning is learning that is conducted mainly in a video format where each student is virtually present at the same time, while synchronous learning is conducted through discussion and chats where each student asks and answers questions, in a sense, at their leisure. O. Marjanovic says it best, "Asynchronous collaborative technologies enable ‘any-time, any-place’ collaboration... Synchronous collaborative technologies enable ‘same-time, same-place’ or ‘same-time, any-place’ collaboration. (Marjanovic, 1991)". The following chart provides a more in-depth view of the differences.

https://www.slideshare.net/XLProTraining/synchronous-and-asynchronous-learning

Benefits of Synchronous Learning

The first of these benefits include the benefit of time. In a synchronous discussion, students are not worried with a time constraint like that of an asynchronous learning session. Students do not have to worry about having 2-3 hours to reach all of the desired objectives and gain the understanding needed to proceed to the next topic. With synchronous discussion, students can research the necessary material and give a very detailed answer to the desired objective.

Another benefit that Hrastinski mentions is psychological arousal. He states that in his research, interviews with his participants shows that synchronous discussions felt "more like talking" creating the psychological arousal. This, in return, also produced a much higher sentence count that asynchronous learning. 

O. Marjanovic, in his article, Learning and teaching in a synchronous collaborative environment, states that synchronous learning enables learning that is more effective and improves group performance and outputs. (O. Marjanovic, 1991). Students report improving mastery of material, critical thinking and analysis skills.

Facilitation Methods

Five Themes of Moderation

In an article entitled Getting in Sync with Synchronous: The Dynamics of Synchronous Facilitation in Online Discussions, Shi, Bonk, Tan, and Mishra gives us five themes to help moderate discussion in a synchronous learning environment: Providing hooks with both ends; Modeling and tele-mentoring; Confronting and conflicting; Setting up norms; and, Social-emotional elements (Shi, Bonk, Tan, &Mishra , 2008)

Providing hooks with both ends 

The idea of this theme is to ensure that every message serves a double purpose: (1) communicating something, and (2) evoking future responses (Shi et al., 2008). This simply means that each question answered within the discussion forum should answer a previous question(s) but at the same time provide a hook for future messages.

Modeling and tele-mentoring

This theme is centered on the idea of scaffolding. "online collaboration itself is a learning process that needs scaffolding from capable experts to smooth the process as well as to guide the content learning to achieve smooth, effective online collaborative learning (Shi et al., 2008). Simply put facilitators should both monitor and model to the students what are the expectation of each discussion. This includes motivating the students, monitoring their performance, providing reflections, etc. Peers and facilitators that are more experienced in synchronous discussion should, in essence, lead the way!

Confronting and conflicting

This theme is based on the social cognitive conflict theory. "The underlying assumption of this theory is that knowledge is motivated, organized, and communicated in the context of social interaction...when individuals operate on each other’s reasoning, they become aware of contradictions between their logic and that of their partner (Shi et al., 2008)." In laymen's terms, a healthy debate is a good way to develop understanding. When a student reads and analyzes the opinions and viewpoints of their peers, it helps them to see the contradictions within their own logic, forcing them to find ways to better understand the topic at hand. There is little argument that learning may be defined as the progressive modification of ideas and behaviors through interpersonal interaction (Shi et al., 2008)." 

Setting up norms

This theme encompasses the idea of creating a healthy learning community with positive group dynamics. Group dynamics contribute to students’ performance in collaborative learning and to their satisfaction with the learning experience (Shi et al., 2008)." Simply put, each student must actively participate within the learning community and “pull their own weight”. Students that are not actively participating within the learning community can disrupt others’ level of motivation and enthusiasm. Participation should be an established norm within the learning community. 

Social-emotional elements

The final theme of moderating synchronous discussions piggybacks off the “setting up norms” theme. As with any social interaction, reactions of all nature will occur. “The social dimension is a crucial factor in determining the “climate” of conferences; that is, the willingness of people to contribute and engage seriously with the effectiveness of the discussion (Shi et al., 2008).” The facilitator should always be aware of the level of interaction within the discussion forum. This level of interaction speaks to the level of interest the students have for the given topic. In addition, the facilitator should also be aware of how the students “feel” within their responses. Are they happily discussing their opinions and perspectives with the full learning community; or are they completing the task with less enthusiasm due to the lack of response from their peers.

Asynchronous Facilitation Methods

An asynchronous online discussion environment may be defined as ‘‘a text-based human-to-human communication via computer networks that provides a platform for the participants to interact with one another to exchange ideas, insights and personal experiences” (Hew, 2008). This simply means that asynchronous discussions are discussions held by individuals online in an effort to share, exchange, or discuss ideas.

Asynchronous discussions are very commonly used in post-secondary courses, to connect peers and create a sense of community within the classroom. Many researchers dedicate their selves to studying the best way to effectively implement asynchronous discussions. Their research has a wide range of focus which extends from the types of questioning to the relationships among each participate.

Research by Hew and Cheung in (2008) suggest there are seven facilitation techniques to use as a guide in asynchronous discussion: (a) giving own opinions or experiences, (b) questioning, (c) showing appreciation, (d) establishing ground rules, (e) suggesting new direction, (f) personally inviting people to contribute, and (g) summarizing. Research by Xie and Ke (2011) confirms the technique of showing appreciation and giving opinions and experiences. Their study examined the relationship between student's motivation and their online interactions in a distance learning. Confirming the study by Hew and Cheung, they found that perceived competence and students' relatedness to their peers is a crucial factor that impacts students' learning in asynchronous discussions.These seven techniques not only enhances the student trust in each other but it also creates a certain connection that allow the student to create, what some may call, learning communities.

Research by Rovai (2002) goes a little more in-depth into classroom communities. This study was to determine if a relationship exists between sense of community and cognitive learning in an online educational environment. Results showed that graduate students feel connected to their virtual classroom community, students with stronger sense of community tend to possess greater perceived levels of cognitive learning, etc. 

Asynchronous discussions are a way for students to express who they are and allow their voices to be heard. Research gives multiple techniques that help enhance the discussion experience. Ultimately, students should feel comfortable, safe, interested and by the end of the discussion, enlightened.

Refernces

Hew, K. F., & Cheung, W. S. (2008). Attracting student participation in asynchronous online discussions: A case study of peer facilitation. Computers & Education, 51(3), 1111-1124. doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2007.11.002

Rovai, A. P. (2002). Sense of community, perceived cognitive learning, and persistence in asynchronous learning networks. The Internet and Higher Education, 5(4), 319-332. doi:10.1016/s1096-7516(02)00130-6

Xie, K., & Ke, F. (2010). The role of students' motivation in peer-moderated asynchronous online discussions. British Journal of Educational Technology, 42(6), 916-930. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8535.2010.01140.x