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rd13 1/9/2010 9:39:23

General Session - Conference Presentation Only (no formal paper)

//Richard Dool, Seton Hall University, South Orange, NJ, USA, doolrich@shu.edu// //Scott Hebert, Seton Hall University, South Orange, NJ, USA, scott.hebert@shu,edu//
 * Dialogue Intensive Learning**

The discussion element of an online course, in theory, is the "classroom" where much of the instructor-student and student-student interaction takes place. To a large degree it is intended to approximate the on-campus class experience. As most online instructors know, the online discussions, if designed appropriately, can far exceed the interactions of the campus classroom. As Rossman (1999) notes, discussions in online courses "are a rich source of learning, enjoyment, and an integral part of the course." Students often comment on the differences in interaction between online and on-campus classes.

"The depth and frequency of intellectual exchange with your classmates exceeds that of traditional graduate school experiences. My learning team colleagues brought a wealth of experience from the private and public sector to our online discussions - which were much more lively than the traditional lecture-format learning environment." Online Student, 2006

We have learned, however, that not all online discussions are created equally. In our online experiences and research, we have witnessed three types of online discussions: the "Q&A" Model, the "1+" Model, and the "dialogue intensive" model.

The "Q&A" model, used in some online programs, is built around a structured environment where the student has specific response tasks. Typically, the instructor will post a question related to the unit's topic and the students are required to post a single response to the question. There is little to no instructor-student interaction or student-student interaction. The primary value of this model is the sharing of approaches and perspectives in response to the specific question.

The "1+" model, used in other online programs, is built around a limited interactive model. Students are required to respond to a specific question in each unit as well as respond to at least one of their peer's postings. This model has the potential for more instructor-student interaction depending on the level of the instructor's engagement. However, in our experience and research, student-student interaction has been limited. Many students just post the obligatory one response to a peer's posting. Others try to engage in more discussion but with limited responses, and the discussion energy tends to dissipate.

The "dialogue intensive" model is built around the notion that much of the learning occurs with active instructor-student and student-student interaction. An initial discussion question is posed as a foundation and as students respond and the instructor engages, the discussion is extended through the sharing of professional experiences, personal insights, and other source materials. It is not atypical in a dialogue intensive model for a week's unit to have 150+ postings in a 10-student class.

A recent class had a CEO, nun, and rabbi, as well as a social worker, police officer and marketing representative, among others. The beauty of the dialogue intensive model is the learning that emerges from the shared experiences and varied perspectives. There are very few opportunities that bring together this type of diversity of backgrounds and experiences, and it would be a shame not to leverage the discussions to enable the students to share their insights and practices. Students often report that the relationships they form in dialogue intensive models far exceed that of on-campus courses. They know more about their online classmates than someone who sat next to them all semester every Thursday night in class. Palloff and Pratt (1999) argue that "it is the relationships and interactions among people through which knowledge is primarily generated. The learning community takes on new proportions in this environment and consequently must be nurtured and developed so as to be an effective vehicle for education" (p.15). The discussions are a living thing and the instructor is the primary source of energy and pace for the discussions in this model. The dialogue intensive model requires a consistent commitment from the instructor, but if led well this model offers a richer and deeper learning experience for the instructor and students alike.

This session will offer a review of our research into the three models as well as a series of best practices that can be used to create, frame, and manage the dialogue intensive model.

Intermediate online discussions, dialogue intensive learning, threaded discussions