Technologies Used: Blackboard Vista
Author: Dr. Michael Henderson
Description of Activity
The moderator or nominated student of an online discussion weaves together the threads of individual student contributions to summarise and focus the groups discussion. Here is an example of effective online weaving:
John said “School placements can be very isolating” I’d go along with that but bear in mind Bec’s point that “I found I had to make the effort to meet staff in my first week.” This point was also raised by Lauren who said, “I think you have to make yourself go to Friday drinks even if you don’t know anyone.” So the consensus appears to be that you have to make the effort to avoid becoming isolated.
Pedagogy
Gilly Salmon’s (2002) weaving and summarising help us to:
- refocus students
- demonstrate that you value their participation
- revisit key issues raised during the discussion
- help students who have not been following the discussion closely (especially important if the discussion forum has been particularly active)
It is suggested that you can get your students to take on the role of summarising and weaving which requires considerable higher order thinking skills.
Wider Literature
Salmon, G. (2002). E-tivities: the key to active only learning. Sterling, VA: Stylus Publishing Inc.
Salmon G. (2004). E-moderating: the key to teaching and learning online. Routledge Publishing.
Related Resources
Video: How Do I Create A Discussion Forum?
To cite this article please use the following:
Henderson, M. (2009). Online Weaving. In M.Henderson & A.Fernando (Eds) Online Teaching Centre. Faculty of Education: Monash University.
