by Esther Ntuli
Abstract: A teacher can know and be comfortable with teaching using all the modern technologies involved in interactive online learning, however, without knowledge of proper techniques in online interactive learning, the teacher's knowledge of content, instruction and technology becomes useless. This paper examines the experiences I had during the first technology class and presents to online teachers the techniques that can make online class not only viable, but successful.
Coming from Zimbabwe, I had very little knowledge about the use of technology in the classroom. Of course, I took basic computer literacy classes before coming to the U.S. to pursue my studies but that was not enough to teach a class using the modern technologies. Use of technology in classroom has been one of the aims of 21st century educational system across the globe (Dockstader). As a teacher, I have come to understand that a 21st century educator should learn some of the modern technologies in order to be able to move with the flow of 21st century students. Technology helps students to remain engaged in the classroom and this leads to low levels of classroom misbehavior (Evertson and Weinstein). However, talking about technology and having computers in classrooms does not automatically lead to a successful learning environment, nor does it lead to engagement. As I was taking my first class in educational technology, I realized many things that teachers, who intend to teach online or use technology in their classroom, should know. This essay seeks to discuss the most important things teachers should know before they design their lesson plans or their class syllabus.
For online discussions to work well, teachers should clarify the topic and outline the type of questions that will allow discussion to continue, not to reach a dead end before the discussion is over. In my first week of class, my professor made us read an article "Does Your Dog Bite?: Creating Good Questions For Online Discussion" (Toledo). This article opened my mind to the kind of questions that I would ask my classmates during asynchronous or synchronous discussions. All teachers who use technology or who intend to use technology should learn questioning techniques and teach their students how to question effectively so that online discussions are more exciting. Toledo argues, "...if we want our students engaged in the critical thinking process we must motivate them with well-written questions that guide them into asking more" (150). Below is the table with questions used by Toledo to explain good questioning techniques that make online learning effective:
Probing Questions
| Example Questions | Questions that probe for: |
| Clarification | Let me see if I understand you; do you mean __ or __? What do you think Mike means by his remark, Dee? How does this relate to our problem/discussion/issue? Jane, can you summarize in your own words what Richard said? Richard, is this what you meant? Would this be an example? Would you say more about that? How does __ relate to __? |
| Assumptions | What are you assuming? What is Jenny assuming? What could we assume instead? You seem to be assuming __. Do I understand you correctly? All of your reasoning depends on the idea that __. Could you have based your reasoning on __ instead of __? Is that always the case? Why do you think the assumption holds here? Why would someone make that assumption? |
| Reasons and evidence | What would be an example? Do you have any evidence for that? What other information do you need? What led you to that belief? How does that apply to this case? What would change your mind? Is there a reason to doubt that evidence? Who is in a position to know that is true? What would you say to someone who said that __? What other evidence can support that view? |
| Viewpoints or perspectives | When you say __, are you implying __? But, if that happened, what else would happen as a result? Why? What effect would that have? Would that necessarily happen or only possibly/probably happen? What is an alternative? If __ and __ are the case, then what might also be true? |
| Implications and consequences | How can we find out? Can we break this question down at all? Is this question clear? Do we understand it? To answer this question, what other questions must we answer first? Why is this issue important? Is this the most important question, or is there an underlying question that is really the issue? |
Source. Stepien, n.d., ¶ 3.
Coupled with good questioning is need for effective commenting skills, or feedback that does not sound cold or destroy intrinsic motivation in students. Feedback written in a polite and constructive manner helps to motivate the spirit of the discussion to continue. Based on my experience, I can say that when using emails to communicate, some people detach their feelings and become rude or cold. It disrupts engagement in a discussion when someone has given an impolite statement on a person's work or response in a discussion. Teachers should know that the same level of attitude, warmth and friendliness that they have when they do face-to-face teaching, which my classmates call "f2f", is necessary when passing comments during online discussions. Below are some positive ways of beginning constructive comments:
Thoughts from a critical friend:
- I particularly liked...
- These resources might be of interest...
- What do you think about...
- I wondered about...
- I've seen others be successful with similar activities when...
Group work and collaborative work are some of the teaching strategies encouraged in learning because research shows positive effects and benefits when students learn in groups (Johnson, Johnson and Smith) (Chickering and Gamson). In addition, collaborative learning builds social skills and good team skills essential in the work place. Online collaborative learning does not work if those involved do not know their tasks within the group. As I was participating in online teamwork, I realized that it was much easier than I thought. From my teaching experience in Zimbabwe, I have found face-to-face group work to be challenging, and that led me to assume the worst when it came to online collaborative learning. When I looked at the outline at the beginning of the semester, I panicked. I remembered all the failed group work that I have participated in, and how my high school students in Zimbabwe would always find it difficult to come up with a coherent paper after doing teamwork. In my technology class, the professor outlined the tasks that each group should work on. After the major task, the small groups have individual tasks. I realized that when the task is spelt out clearly, online collaborative work becomes easy. If one member is lagging behind, group members can always remind them, and this makes everyone in the group responsible. Putting together the work is not difficult if the work is organized according to tasks.
Closely connected to the above, the concept of group composition is very important in interactive online leaning. The teacher has to know the background of the students that are in the class before they are assigned into groups. In the class, the professor paired us according to how much we knew the technology. In every group there was one or two people who were savvy and they helped other people who had very little knowledge. I think teachers should ask for an intensive background of students before teaming them for online collaborative learning for it to be effective.
Teaching online calls for a higher level of alertness (others call it virtual presence), and a teacher must be there for students. Alertness in this context refers to the ability of the teacher to keep up-to-date with what is going on in the virtual classroom at every moment. Wattenberg explained the concept of " with-it-ness" that a competent teacher uses in a traditional classroom. The concept of "with-it-ness" is about a teacher who knows what is going on in every corner of the classroom. My professor in my undergraduate Theory of Education class explained this concept in an interesting way. She said a real teacher should know who is making noise or who is sleeping in class even if he/she is facing the chalkboard. The same applies to a teacher who uses technology. The level of alertness should move beyond the concept of 'with-it-ness'. When teaching with technology, one should know for example if all the links on the class website are working, should constantly check discussion forums, emails, chat rooms, etc. to see if all the students are on the same page. This is something I learned from my first technology class. My professor was ever-present online. I felt that she was more involved in my work than all the traditional classes I have ever taken. For those who use technology in the classroom, they should know that the degree of involvement should go beyond what happens in the traditional class. The reason being that when using a computer connected to internet, students can easily get distracted by other things when each time they try a link it does not work. They can start surfing the net or responding to their personal emails. I found myself doing that a few times when our links were not working. It as a huge problem, for instance, when it happens often to a class of young students who have not yet studied the concept of time management.
The issues raised in this paper explain the importance of online instruction, and the factors to take into consideration when teaching an online course so that it is more effective. I pointed out that effective questioning, constructive comments on students' works, clarifying instructions and alertness are the parameters which I think contribute most to making an online class extremely effective.
Chickering, A. W, and Gamson, Z. F (eds.) (1991), Applying the seven principles for good practice in undergraduate education. San Francisco, Calif: Jossey-Bass Inc.
Dockstader, J. (1999). Teachers of the 21st century know the what, why and how of technology integration. T H E Journal (Technological Horizons In Education), 26(6), 73-76.
Evertson, C.M., & Weinstein, C.S. (eds).(2006). Handbook of classroom management : research, practice, and contemporary issues. Mahwah, N.J. : Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Johnson, D. W., Johnson, R. T., and Smith, K. A. (1991) Cooperative learning: increasing college faculty instructional productivity. Washington, D.C.: School of Education and Human Development, George Washington University
Stepien, B.(n.d). Tutorial on problem-based learning: Taxonomy of Socratic questioning. Retrieved from http://www.criticalthinking.org/resources/articles/the-role-ofquestioning.shtml
Toledo, C.A (2006). "Does your dog bite?": Creating good questions for online discussions. International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 18(2), 150-154.
Wattenberg, W.W. (1977). The Ecology of Classroom Behavior: Classroom Dynamics. Theory into Practice, Vol. 16(4), 256-261.
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