Journal 3: "Keep Them Chatting"

Although I have heard of online courses for college, I have never thought about having online course for K-12. The article "Keep Them Chatting" by Jennie Cole is about online discussions for K-12 chats, discussion boards, and wiki topics. She wants to challenge the assumption that students only do the bare minimum on online assignments. Cole believes that there are a couple different techniques that can stimulate online discussion. First, she emphasizes the use of "high-level, open-ended questions." I think these are the basic types of questions that we as teachers should ask all the time, in the classroom or online. Second, she describes the "inquiry method" which requires research and problem solving. This method is also basic for group work. I like that she encourages the use of shared Google documents to collaborate with other students. The "discrepant event inquiry method" is where students view an unexplained event, like a photo, video, or demonstration, then research this topic to make sense of it. This is the one method that I am not as familiar with. I would have loved a more in-depth explanation about this method. Finally, Cole encourages the use of personal examples. As a student myself, I know that the hands-on approach stimulates my own interest. Therefore, allowing students to create research real-life events or objects will create more interest in learning that topic.

1. How will I use this in my classroom?
This is something I honestly have not thought about before, using online chat and discussions. As a future special education teacher, I am interested in how this can work in a critical skills classroom. Even so, I think her discussion techniques for stimulating conversation can also be used in the classroom as well as online.

2. Do these techniques always work?
I think I am skeptical of these techniques. First of all, they are not exactly explained in detail, but only explained by certain examples. Second, I think students are students no matter how old, and most of the time are going to do the minimum required. These techniques are not all that revolutionary to change students completely.

Cole, Jeanie (2009, February). Keep Them Chatting. Learning and Leading with Technology, 36, Retrieved February, 2009, from http://www.learningandleading-digital.com/learning_leading/200902/