How long can you volley?
1 min read
Teaching Students to Talk to Each Other: Improving the Discussion Board, 2006
This "old" paper came to my attention through a Tweet by Harold Rheingold. I'm glad I took the time to follow the link, as this topic resonates with me, especially since I'm currently taking online courses. In the paper, Edward J. Gallagher of Lehigh University discusses how he transformed the use of discussion boards in his class into a truly collaborative learning environment. His metaphor of friends playing racquetball, with the goal of sustaining the volley for as long as possible, is extremely useful. If boards are places where students go to post ace serves, that no one can return, then they can hardly be considered a learning tool. No, the learning takes place in the thoughtful back and forth, where each post leaves room for someone else to respond, probe, agree, disagree, expound, etc. The lessons here could equally be applied to blogs comments and social media.
Originally posted to linkblog August 29, 2014
