A Few Recommendations for Educators Interested in Trying TDGs

Image Courtesy: http://myfootpath.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/questions_Advice_Answers-655x280.jpg

After integrating Threaded Discussion Groups into my practice with four of my classes in the past few months, I would certainly recommend that educators consider this new literacy for their students. Online group discussions have great potential for education, and as Bowers-Campbell (2011) cites in her article, “constructivists posit that ultimately, human beings depend on social interactions with others to learn” (Bowers-Campbell, p. 560). The first piece of advice that I would offer a teacher who is thinking about trying TDGs is to look into all the various platforms available for this and make an educated decision on which one is best for them and their classroom. Google Groups worked best for us because our school is already set up with Gmail accounts and students are quite familiar with Google Apps. At first, I was tempted to use Moodle, a platform I was familiar with myself as a student. However, I felt it was limiting and visually, a bit boring, so I first considered Google Hangout, which seemed very interactive. Google Hangout is also available through Gmail, but after playing around with it, I found that I was overwhelmed and nervous about how I could ‘capture’ student discussions. However, I knew I had to focus on making it meaningful and interesting for them so I asked a few students to look at a Google Group page and a Google Hangout page and tell me which one interested them. To my relief, they felt that the Google Hangout page had ‘a lot’ going on, so they felt similarly to me. I think that finding a platform that is accessible to everyone involved is crucial; a platform everyone understands and is at ease with is what I found helped this project to have a strong start.

Once educators have decided on a platform, they need to ensure that they familiarize themselves with how it functions. I thought I knew enough by reading about it and setting everything up. However, I ran into a few snares that I could have avoided had I asked a few people to do a ‘dry run’ of a chat first. In retrospect, what I should have done to prepare for TDGs before introducing it to students is to run a TDG with colleagues to test the platform and see how everything ‘looks’ and operates ahead of time. In our staff meetings, we often have small groups discussions, or surveys, and so forth. I could have asked if we could capture one of these activities in a Google Group so I could gain a better understanding and be able to troubleshoot with students more capably at the beginning. I think this would have been especially helpful if I asked teachers to participate on their various different digital devices, as I asked of the students. This way, I could have seen what the Google Group screen looks like on different tablets, laptops, and phones. In the future, I think I’ll certainly enlist the help and input of my colleagues before trying a project such as this. It might also be a good idea to ask colleagues to collaborate with you and use the TDG in multiple classrooms.

Once the project is ready to be introduced to students, I would suggest that moving forward, teachers think about how to make it as student-centered as possible. I believe that this means that students should be given a great deal of control. To begin with, I decided to allow students to create their own Google Groups. They chose who they wanted to chat with, and I was flexible with the numbers. Some students are working in groups of three while others are in groups of up to eight people. I also allowed for movement once we had already started, so students could critically consider who they are the most productive with, whom they can learn from, and so forth. Also, with TDGs, it is important that students feel as though they are discussing issues that are meaningful to them, not just topics that easily connect to the curriculum. I started off by creating topics for them to respond to and while it worked well for a while, after about a month, students started asking if they could choose their own topics. I was a bit worried that they wouldn’t choose issues that I’d consider ‘academic enough,’ but I soon realized that they have better ideas than I do, and returning to Bowers-Campbell, like her, I found that, “online discussions occurred naturally [without] my direction” (Bowers-Campbell, p. 558). If I had to try this again from the beginning, I think I would generate a massive list of sample topics and then ask students to determine their own conversation topics. Or, this could be a pre-project activity; making a list of all the different topics that they want to explore over the year. Different students want to chat about different things and write in a variety of ways such as journaling, creative writing, or writing opinion pieces. If you choose one topic for everyone, some students are bound to feel limited.

The next suggestion I would offer with this new literacy is to have a firm idea of what you are looking for with their TDGs. In Cathy English’s (2007) article, she emphasizes that “the online discussion as an extension of [the] classroom. It is not a chat room where their use of language is more informal” (English, p. 58). However, I wanted to focus more on their ideas and impressions and less on mechanics, in the hopes of more ‘buy in.’ In essence, I just wanted them to get excited about writing and not feel slowed down by editing madly as they write. With everything else that we do in class, I emphasize the writing process, reflecting, writing, editing, and re-writing. However, with TDGs, I wanted students to have more of an experience of free writing and experimenting without being self conscious of their spelling and grammar. To my surprise, what I found is that students started correcting themselves more in their TDGs than they do in writing assignments that only I see; because they have an authentic audience of peers, they wanted to represent themselves well.

As far as a timeline for a TDG project, I have found that setting aside dedicated time every week works well. Students know when we’re going to be writing and come prepared for class. We set aside time every Friday, and I’ve found Fridays to be a good day because we can easily build on themes and issues we’ve considered during the past few days, and if students aren’t moved to write during Friday’s class, they have the weekend to develop their ideas on their own time. Having the chat groups available 24/7 allows flexibility for students; some prefer to verbally chat about the topic during class but don’t actually get much written online. On the weekend, they can return to the chat group and finish their post on their own time, and as Rizopoulos and McCarthy (2009) argue, TDGs “promote critical thinking and reflection outside of the 1-hour domain constraints of the classroom” (Rizopoulos & McCarthy, p. 374). Every time a student posts to the forum, a notification email is sent to myself and everyone else in their group so sometimes students spark another discussion session on their own time. I would certainly recommend that teachers set up this notification feature if it is available in their chosen platform because the notifications function as a gentle nudge to others students to engage outside of the classroom.  

The last advice I would offer teachers about TDGs is to build your own assessment rubric, maybe even with student input. Getting student input ahead of time is not what I did, but I might try this next year. I’m considering running TDGs for a couple of weeks and then stopping students to ask what elements they think they should be assessed on and how much ‘grade weight’ should be attached to each item. I could guide them with some examples of criteria or even rubrics that other teachers use, and then we could create a custom one for the class. I could even invite each group to build their own rubric. As far as how many times I assess their discussions, I’ve found that looking at their contributions once a month, holistically, works well for us. This way, if they’ve had a ‘quieter’ week, they can make up for it in another conversation. With over thirty different TDGs for me to monitor, this approach also helps to make my marking more manageable.

TDGs are definitely a new literacy that I would suggest to educators. There is a lot of potential for TDGs to help enhance what teachers are already doing in their classrooms; looking for new opportunities to make learning more accessible, engaging, and meaningful for all students.

Reference List:

Bowers-Campbell, J. (2011). Taking it Out of Class: Exploring Virtual Literature Circles. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 54(8). 557-567.

Rizopoulos, L. & McCarthy, P. (2009). Using Online Threaded Discussions: Best Practices for the Digital Learner. J. Educational Technology Systems, 37(4). 373-383.

English, C. (2007). Finding a Voice in a Threaded Discussion Group: Talking about Literature Online. English Journal, 97(1). 56-61.