Creating Meaningful Online Discussions

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Author:

Mary Harris-John

Subject:

Social Sciences

Institution Name:

Connexions

Collection:

Connexions

Grade Level:

Post-secondary

Abstract:

As educators in higher education, we face many challenges, but probably none like that of teaching online. While institutions of higher education have enjoyed a long history of traditional teaching and learning, the realities of providing an environment tailored to the needs and interests of today's adult learners is a very real and timely issue. Many institutions have pursued online instruction as a means of competing in today's marketplace, while addressing the unique needs of the current generation of degree-seeking adults who have family, community, and work commitments -- in other words, whose time is highly structured and virtually controlled by a wide variety of factors. Thus, Web-supported instruction is becoming much more commonplace in colleges and universities (Lindner, Dooley & Murphy, 2001). Web-based courses are being used increasingly by instructors to optimize the delivery of instruction and instructional materials. These include: Web pages, chat rooms, discussion groups, e-mail, animation, streaming video, etc.

Course Type:

Learning Module

Languages:

English

Material Type:

Readings, Syllabi

Media Format:

Text/HTML

Conditions of Use:

Creative Commons Attribution 2.0