Hi everyone,
Session 1 of CALMet Online, Speaking of Discussion Forums, wrapped up on 28 May. Despite some expected lulls in discussion during the month, we consider it a successful and useful start to the conference. The session including a one-hour live presentation, 5 readings, a wiki, and 7 individual discussion forums. All in all, participants contributed 57 individual forum postings. I've also provided a Course Summary now available on the course website.
Comparing the session with a typical CALMet workshop, for example, I believe that it surpassed most workshops in terms of resources made available and the amount of participant interaction that took place, even though it took place over a number of weeks rather than hours. Thanks go particularly to frequent and strong discussion participants Vesa, Luciane, Erik, Bill, Jose, Anni, Bruce, and Eduard, but kudos also to all who only spoke up once or twice or who just checked in to read the forums. You all get a passing grade.
I think one conclusion we can come to from the session is that while we can find useful guidelines and ideas for offering instructional discussion forums, there are no foolproof formulas or rules for making them work. Eduard made the important point that discussion forums are best for venturing into the unknown, for constructing new knowledge and not for teaching already decided upon answers. For this reason, they retain the same mysterious nature that any conversation has. One needs to know how to listen, generate trust, and offer measured responses without dominating. One can’t start a discussion forum with firm plans for how it will turn out. Otherwise, it ceases to be a discussion.
The resources and discussions for this session will remain on the course website throughout CALMet Online 2010, at least until November. However, it will be moved the bottom of the course site to make room for the upcoming sessions.
The next CALMet session is planned in a several weeks. It will be led by Paul Bugeac, and treat the complicated challenge of competency assessment. More details will be sent out as those plans firm up.
See you then!
Pat Parrish
and I very much liked this conclusion as well.