Encouraging student collaboration is one of the best ways of helping students learn about each other and from each other. Collaboration in the online classroom can take many forms, but often will involve group work to teach one another while the instructor can serve as the “guide on the side”.
Ideas for an Online Class
Here are a few ideas to get started with student collaboration in an online class, including technology-related ideas:
Podcasts
Podcasting is a popular method of communication and entertainment today, with many different podcasts ranging from news & politics to fictional content, and much more. Podcasting can also be leveraged with a class as a collaborative project, allowing students to have a conversation about a given topic. Each topic used could have students develop higher order critical thinking skills, and can also be used in a variety of ways to make a class fun and engaging.
Collaborative documents and presentations
Asking students to work together to present concepts to the online classroom is an effective way of adding collaboration to student interactions. Many instructors may find this activity to be more difficult in an online classroom as they and the students do not have the benefit of interaction within the same room. In this regard, it becomes necessary for students to use tools that allow for collaborative development to enable them to work together. Several companies provide free use of their tools to allow students to collaboratively craft documents, presentations, case studies, and more. Students can be given the option of assembling their own groups online, or can be pre-assigned. Students should also be given the opportunity to communicate and craft their work in the way that is most convenient for them.
Debates
Debates among students are a great way of reviewing all aspects of a topic. Debates are often used to discuss concepts such a medical issues, historical decisions, political and/or societal questions, and more. In many cases the class is broken up into two or more teams, each handling a specific position on a question. Students on each team must review content related to their question and define the reasoning of their position. Students ultimately debate the differing aspects of the question, leading to an increase in their critical thinking skillset.
The setup of a debate in an online classroom is different than in a face-to-face classroom. Students can be divided into groups using system tools, but must communicate with one another outside of those groups to have an effective debate. Debates can occur using video tools, or can occur through a discussion board with each member properly stating their group’s stance.
As a reminder, debates can also happen in quick order, particularly when using current topics. All debates need a level of structure and rules to prevent tangential discussions or discussions that may cause classroom discord.
Social media conversations
As many of today’s students make use of social media, it can offer instructors the opportunity to engage students outside of the learning management system. For example, students can work under a hashtag (typically associated with the course, determined by instructor) on Facebook or Twitter to discuss a class topic, engage in a conversation, or contribute material to a course. In certain classes, students may use their social media accounts to discuss topics of relevance that can be brought to a larger online class discussion.