Journal #3 "Keep Them Chatting" (NETS 5)

Donna Twardy
February 19, 2009
Journal #3 “Keep Them Chatting” by Jeanie Cole
Cole, J. (2009 February). Keep them chatting. Learning and Leading with Technology, 4, Retrieved February 15, 2009, from http://www.learningandleading-digital.com/learning_leading/200902/

“Keep Them Chatting” was an article about how to keep students interested and involved in an online class. So often, students are inclined to regurgitate information or copy from the Internet. Online instructors need to develop a way to hold students accountable while challenging them to higher-level thinking. The article gave some techniques for stimulating online discussions. One of these techniques includes creating high-level open-ended questions for the students. These types of questions stimulate the student’s creativity and encourage them to think of situations or events in a different way than the “textbook” approach. An example of this type of question is, “If you could choose any historical figure from the 1800’s to be the president in 2009, who would it be? Give reasons for your choice and how you think that person would change present day society.”
Another technique is to use the inquiry method question. Students must research and use problem-solving skills to formulate their answers. The next technique is the discrepant event inventory method. This technique has the student view an unexplained video, photo, or simulation and then answer a question about it using their detailed research. The teacher provides guidelines and requirements.
Another strategy is to have the students use illogical comparisons to compare two unrelated things or events. This encourages students to use analytical and evaluation skills. Finally, the last technique is to use personal examples. The example of this technique from the article is for the student to create the perfect roller coaster and create a list of the rise, run, maximum speed, g-force element and other examples. Then the students are tasked to find real life examples of roller coasters that meet the requirements they listed. Then they give a presentation of their findings for other students to evaluate
The techniques the article offered cannot only be used in an online classroom, but can also be valuable strategies in a traditional classroom.
1. What is an example of a high level open-ended question that a teacher can use for upper elementary aged students who are working on social studies?
An example of an open-ended question would be “ If early explorers had not circumnavigated the world, how do you think history of the United States would have been changed? Explain the affects of the changes we might see today.”
2. How are these techniques valuable to the online classroom teacher and students?
The benefits for the teacher who uses these techniques in the online classroom are the creative aspect that they can add into a lesson by using the open ended questions and the personal examples. They can stimulate the discussions amongst their students in a positive and creative way. They encourage them to explore different possibilities. The benefit for a student is to feel safe in exploration. Since their classmates are also participating with the same types of techniques, they may feel more confident to experiment or take educational risks.