Excerpts from A Classroom of One by Gene I. Maeroff (2004)

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Asynchronous communication happens with an electronic bulletin board that each student visits when time permits, reading messages posted by others, often in response to a question for the instructor, and adding their own messages. (p. 46)

The readings and what classmates say online should inform the threaded discussion, ideally leading to fresh understandings and deeper insights. Online discussions provide an opportunity for reflection on the comments of peers, as well as on one’s own comments. (p. 67)

The University of Phoenix Online said that it based its approach on findings showing that online discussions involved a dynamic and extensive sharing of ideas, opinions, and information among students. The university, in an internal document on how e-learning affects students, equated this online dialogue to what might occur in a face-to-face classroom environment. An instructor ends up with a written record that exceeds the product of classroom discussions, which generally have not life beyond the utterance of the words. (p. 67)

While bulletin boards and chat rooms facilitate interaction, instructors have no assurance how the discussions will end. Sheila Seifert, who began teaching magazine writing and creative writing at the University of Colorado at Denver in 1998, found in the years afterward that each online course seemed to have its own personality. One semester the students were unusually aggressive, and she felt that they were challenging every word she put online, apparently taking advantage of not having to face her in person. Another semester the students were so chatty that the threaded discussions seemed to go on for miles, the 24/7 environment providing no cutoff to the conversation as the clock does in a classroom. And yet another class bonded so well online that they wanted their discussion to last beyond the course; consequently, they created online critique groups in which they could continue to give feedback to each other after the course concluded. (p. 70-71)

Rubric from Principles of Effective Teaching in the Online Classroom (2000)

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Points Skills

9-10 Demonstrates excellence in grasping key concepts; critiques the work of others; provides ample evidence of support for opinions; readily offers new interpretations of discussion material.

7-8 Shows evidence of understanding most of the major concepts; is able to agree or disagree when prompted; is skilled in basic level of support for opinions; offers an occasional divergent viewpoint.

5-6 Has mostly shallow grasp of the material; rarely takes a stand on issues; offers inadequate levels of support.

1-4 Shows no significant understanding of material.

Project Comments

Karen, how did the author use this rubric? Were you thinking that we might use it or something similar to make a qualitative judgement about the quality of each post? Or, maybe I'm missing the point and this is the evaluation rubric the author used to grade students in his/her class? (roberta)

The focus here seems to be on quality of discussion in terms of course competencies, which does give us some starting points. We also need to include things that are more specific to the type of conversation/contribution (question, comment, conflict, etc.), and that relate to the development of community and expertise. I think this will be useful as background and discussion, rather than as a model per se. (Van Eck)