Title of the Activity: Discussion Questions Example Description of Activity: Students are posed questions to discuss with the class. The questions serve as advanced organizers or scaffolds upon which the students construct new knowledge and tie in what they already know to emerging concepts. An asynchronous nature provides students the opportunity to consider questions more in depth. Appropriate Content Areas: Education, Media Studies

Goals & Objectives: (presented to students before the activity or in the syllabus)

Prerequisites:

What must students already know before beginning this lesson? The answer to this question will vary depending on the needs of the lesson. In most cases, the students will need at least a beginning knowledge of the materials being discussed. Discussion questions usually occur after the students have begun reading new materials. The discussion helps to solidify ideas, present new perspectives, and address any misconceptions.

Materials and Resources:

What needs to be prepared in advance by the teacher? The instructor needs to construct discussion questions prior to the given unit. There should also be activities or readings that coincide with these questions to provide students with any necessary knowledge to answer them or to begin formulating ideas.

What does the student need to bring to the lesson? To assess student learning or to aid in knowledge construction, discussion questions should be done after a student has already done any lesson readings or other information presentation or representations for the given knowledge unit. If the goal is to have the students reveal prior knowledge, discussion should occur before readings. Questions regarding student attitudes and beliefs may be done either before or after the students completes other learning materials.

Guiding Questions for this Activity:

What are the attributes needed to be a successful online student, and how can I, as an instructor, help them to succeed?

Activity as Presented to the Students:

Discussion Questions Activity Learning through synergy Purpose of this Assignment In this activity, you will use the knowledge gained from the reading to answer a series of discussion questions. Through your answers, your peers answers, and the resulting discussion, we will delve deeper into the module's topics. Time Estimate It should take approximately 1 hour to complete this exercise. Due Date The initial answer to your discussion questions will be due in the middle of the module, while responses are due 3 days later. For all due dates in this course, refer to the Course Calendar. Activity In the Module 1 - DQ discussion forum, answer the questions below that have been assigned to you by the assignment due date. In addition, you must choose the posts of two classmates to questions other than the ones assigned to you and post a response giving why you agree or disagree in a constructive manner (along with why you feel that way), what the person's post taught you, or how the post made you think about a particular issue. The response posts are due 3 days after the due date for the initial answer posts. Name Question Assigned Complete this table with your students names and question number. All students answer number 1. Questions 1. After completing the readings for this module, reflect back on what you wrote during the orientation period for the course. What do you feel about your multimedia example now? Give 4 reasons why you feel that it is a good example or a bad example. You can give 4 good and 0 bad, 2 good and 2 bad, 0 good and 4 bad, or any combination that gives 4 reasons. 2. Consider the issue of color-blindness. Had you ever considered this issue before this course? Do you think that it is really important? Why or why not. How many people do you think have a form of color blindness per 100? Try to find the actual statistic on the Web and report on it. 3. How do you feel about moving graphics on Web pages? Give 3 specific examples of when you feel it would be appropriate to have moving graphics. Find one example on the Web of an appropriate use of moving graphics and post the URL with an explanation of why you feel it is an effective use. Additional Questions follow...

Teaching Strategies:

One of the most difficult things for an instructor to do during a discussion question activity is to let the students discuss. The students need to be made aware of the expectations of their participation. The instructor needs to be careful not to post in such a way that the discussion is squelched. It is recommended that the students be informed of when they can expect the instructor to begin commenting, such as the second day of discussion. Posts by the instructor should help to organize, redirect, synthesize, recapitulate, etc. the discussion up to that point and lead to further discussion if appropriate.

Accommodations:

What accommodations may be needed for students with disabilities or other special needs? This lesson requires few if any accommodations. Most text to speech and speech to text programs can function within most asynchronous discussion tools. The bandwidth requirements are also low.

Ideas for Activity Evaluation and Teacher Reflection:

How did the students like the lesson? Can be directed into the end of course evaluation. The instructor should also monitor the activity and any student 'noise' concerning the activity.

How was student learning verified? A rubric could be used to assess the student participation as presented below. The rubric may or may not be shared with students depending on instructor preference.

Sample Discussion Forum Rubric

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