Welcome to "Make It Monday"!
Within a "ground" classroom setting, it is easier for a professor to see when a student engages and participates simply because, the professor can physically witness this interaction and it is occurring in "real life". Given that our classroom exists within the virtual world, the professor cannot physically see when a student is reviewing another classmates photographs and cannot physically hear a students thoughts or suggestions that might be aimed towards another classmate. Due to this fact, it is very important for students to actively engage and participate throughout the term within the online classroom. This participation comes in the form of writing peer responses, responding to the professor's feedback and in some cases, responding back to your own classmates.
Many of you are familiar with the rubrics that appear within the classroom. They look similar to the rubric shown below:
With this particular assignment, students can earn 10 points via class participation. When you write your peer responses, you want to make sure that you are following your professor's Posting Guidelines, which should be posted within the "Course Home" section of your online classroom. These are the Posting Guidelines as seen within the courses that I teach:
Since the discussion boards serve as our venue for sharing information, we need to use them properly. That means that we must be sure to answer the question; we must comment on the postings of our classmates; we must use the language of the text; and, we must write posts of at least 100 words.
As you may have noticed, all online courses are predicated upon interactive feedback. In effect, shared comments on the work of the week, or on our classmates' ideas will generate dialogue and create a conversation. And, the more you write on the discussion board, the better your writing will become. So, before posting to the discussion board, it is a good idea to proofread your work. Make certain that your post is written in complete sentences and that there are no errors in it. Doing so will give you an opportunity to practice communicating effectively.
When you give feedback to at least two classmates’ initial posts in the forums, be sure to:
- Say something positive about the post (what was done correctly).
- Say something critical about the post (what could be done better).
- Say something encouraging about the post (what has improved or will improve next time).
Please be sure to keep in mind the due dates for your 'peer response' posts. Your peer responses make up a portion of your grade and occur in "real time"; late posts are not accepted.
Students are also encouraged to respond back to the professor's feedback before grades are posted within the grade-book; this also makes up a portion of the student's grade. Keep in mind that grades are posted within the grade-book 48 hours after the due date of the peer responses.
In some cases, students might not comment on what was actually asked of them within the rubric. In the case of the rubric shown above, students are asked to comment on the use of "focal length", "light" and "composition". In order to earn all of those 10 points, these three topics as well as the information listed within the Posting Guidelines needs to be addressed.
Be sure not to loose the Class Participation points by not writing your peer responses or responding back to your professor!
I'll see you next for "Website Wednesday"!
I'll see you next for "Website Wednesday"!