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Tapping Online Dialogue for Learning: A Grounded Theory Approach to Identifying Key Heuristics that Promote Collaborative Dialogue Among Virtual Learners
| Content Provider | Semantic Scholar |
|---|---|
| Author | Haavind, Sarah |
| Copyright Year | 2005 |
| Abstract | This study examined factors that promote content-related, collaborative dialogue in secondary-level online course discussion forums. Discourse transcripts from nine Virtual High School courses from the spring semester of 2003 were analyzed. A high collaboration course was defined as a course that included at least twenty-five linked interactions with a thread depth of at least four over fifteen weeks. These linked interactions were called collaborative events in which students responded to and built on one another's thinking. The findings from this study suggest that to elicit and sustain online collaborative dialogue requires a balanced interplay among elements of course design, teaching practice, and evaluation. With these elements in place, regular participation by the instructor in the content-related discussions is not essential for promoting collaborative dialogue. The Problem In Context Recent web-based communication technologies have drawn millions of learners and instructors to their computers to take or teach courses online. Educational quality varies widely. Yet researchers have found that online learning has considerable potential: Experiences involving asynchronous, interactive dialogue among learners, facilitated and supported by an instructor, can yield thoughtful and reflective engagement around educational content (Garrison & Anderson, 2003; Roberts, 2004) However, promoting extended, substantive learner exchanges online remains difficult for most instructors (Sorensen, 2004). Few robust empirical research studies exist that demonstrate enhanced learning as a result of online learner collaboration and develop heuristics for achieving collaborative dialogue (Graham & Misanchuk, 2004). The evaluation of the Virtual High School (VHS), conducted by Zucker and his associates at SRI (2003), similarly found that fostering content-focused dialogue was one of the most significant challenges for the secondary-level online instructors they observed. The Virtual High School TM is a collaborative of accredited high schools in which local teachers lead virtual courses in exchange for seats for local students in the VHS: twenty-five seats for each semester class taught. Currently, 4,526 students are enrolled in 169 VHS classes taught by 176 teachers. There are 268 member schools in 29 states and over 20 countries worldwide. Course offerings include such courses as History of Pop Music, 101 Ways to Write a Short Story, Fractals, Introduction to Programming in Visual Basic, Advanced Placement Calculus, Biotechnology, the Holocaust, and the Vietnam War. It is considered an exemplary model for pre-college online learning (Zucker & Kozma, 2003). According to the SRI evaluators, Virtual High School teachers reported using constructivist principles and pedagogy. Even so, they felt frustrated in their attempts to achieve similar levels of studentto-student interaction online as they achieved in their face-to-face classrooms. At the same time, some teachers were successfully fostering collaboration. What was different in classes where collaborative dialogue was present? Copyright by AACE. Reprinted from the E-Learn 2005 Conference Proceedings, with permission of AACE (http://www.aace.org). |
| Starting Page | 1309 |
| Ending Page | 1325 |
| Page Count | 17 |
| File Format | PDF HTM / HTML |
| Volume Number | 2005 |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | https://scope.bccampus.ca/pluginfile.php/66/mod_forum/attachment/338/05Elearn_Haavind_fp.pdf |
| Language | English |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Article |
