Teaching Online

By A. W. (Tony) Bates

Merely putting students into an online laboratory or a forum for discussion does not necessarily lead to learning taking place. Indeed, discussion forums (whether face-to-face or online) can far too easily degenerate into a swapping of opinions between students without any change in understanding, attitudes, or knowledge. Hence, the teacher’s role in moderating online discussions is critical.

Goals for online Discussions

(Online discussion forums can have many different goals, such as to develop critical and analytical thinking skills, to analyze the logic or power of someone else’s argument, construct new meanings (knowledge building, construction), etc.

Forums can be designed to facilitate also

• Collaborative learning

• Problem solving

• Project work

It would be a good exercise for an instructor to construct a list of such goals for discussion forums, and perhaps prioritize them, for a particular course. It would help students if these goals were communicated to them as part of the course orientation. The instructor could use the list of goals as a checklist when evaluating and moderating a particular discussion.

Critical Thinking Skills

Most publications on moderating online discussion forums focus on helping learners develop their own meanings of concepts and ideas presented in the course or offered by other learners (a constructivist approach to learning). Surprisingly few focus specifically on how to develop critical thinking skills through discussion or how to facilitate discussion that leads to new ideas (origin thinking).

Collaborative Learning

One great advantage of online learning is the opportunity for students separated by time and place to work together on a common task. Working together online is an increasingly important workplace skill; it also provides opportunities for students to share experiences, learn how to work collaboratively, and test and develop their own ideas. It is particularly valuable for courses in which students are from different countries or cultures and for continuing professional development wherein participants share and draw from relevant professional experiences.

Summary of Goals for Online Discussions

It is important to have clear goals for the discussion forums and in particular, the approach to teaching and learning that is to be developed or encouraged within the forums. Instructors need to provide help and guidance to students, as well as organize the online learning experience so that it encourages critical thinking, problem-solving, and collaborative learning skills. Each subject discipline has its own requirements for academic discourse, but most require evidence-based argument, reference to constructs and ideas within the teaching materials, and a critical but constructive approach to ideas and arguments presented within the discussion forums.

Reference: A. W. (Tony) Bates. Effective teaching with technology in higher education: foundations for success / A. W. (Tony) Bates, Gary Poole. – USA: The Jossey-Bass higher and adult education series, 2003. – 306 p.

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