Why Johnny Won’t Post
WHY STUDENTS DON’T POST
“Why do some students resist participating in course discussion boards when they know their grade will suffer? How can students with polished social skills come across in online courses as uncooperative and unengaged, with short postings of little substance?” Tim Dotson (in “Why Johnny Won’t Post,” CONVERGE ONLINE, August 27, 2003) provides four categories for students’ failures to post:
logistical (time constraints, difficulty using the tool)
personal (student inhibitions, “discussion board fatigue”)
educational (inexperience with collaboration, inability to
write for the Web)
instructor-related (lack of instructor involvement, lack of
clear requirements for postings).
The author, Tim Dotson, goes on to say:
If students are motivated and capable, perhaps they just need more writing practice, using Web writing style. Web logs (”blogs”) can enhance writing skills. Tools to create this online “diary” are free and easy to use. Blog tools offer more functionality than the discussion board tools provided as part of a course management system, with easy inclusion of photos and other graphics without HTML knowledge. Blogs can be used as part of an online course: for writing practice, student reflection, interaction, resource posting, and a shared class “bulletin board.”
Then he asks this question:
Are your posting requirements carefully designed and pedagogically sound or just an afterthought?
And a quote:
“Students are accustomed to sharing space and time, not ideas, whereas online learning is exactly the opposite.”
In some ways this ties in with my previous post. This type of discussion is still new and untread territory to many, even those who are pretty proficient with technology. We need to keep thinking about ways to foster collaboration and sharing of ideas.
September 1st, 2003 at 8:11 am
I think you’ve hit on my greatest struggle. I just finished working with abou 150 kids for 2 weeks in a bulletin board discussion.
Now I know they’re all IM wizards and their DB posts look like it. Sometimes they used so many abbreviations, I didn’t even know what they said until I found someone to translate!!!!
But the IM language is creative if nothing else.
So in order to make the transition to writing that can be understood by more than the IM crowd requires a good bit of planning and consideration, I’ve found. I will definitely be more prepared the next project.
Best of luck with your students. I hope to hear about what works and doesn’t work here in your journal.
marsha