Small Group Responsibilities & Discussions |
Small learning groups (which rotate membership every few weeks) are a common feature in this course. From the small group assignment section of the schedule and assignments, I will assign different discussion questions weekly to different groups of students. You are to share your ideas and responses to the group assignments with others in your own group first. You will develop a consensus answer (no strong disagreements) within the group wherever possible.
I will establish, in our virtual classroom on WebTycho, separate study group areas for each small group. Because you can sort the site by date, you can easily see the most recent postings. See also Reading Conferences Off-line.
Generate some ideas on each of the assigned questions in the first few days of each assignment period. Post them in the study group area of WebTycho for your group.
If you are speaking from experience, explain yourself for we have a wide variety of participants in any class. What in your background supports your position (prior course, reading, experiences, etc.).
If all works well, by the assignment due date, each Recorder will post a consolidated comment representing the common thoughts of each group (along with dissenting opinions of course) in the appropriate WT conference area. Each of you is then to review and comment on the group posting. You may not have much to add to your own group's work, but you should have some comment on the towrk of other groups.
You are expected to study the assigned material and contribute consistently to the weekly group effort in addition to completing your journal, article/web site (outside reading) assignments and course project and preparing for exams. So the secret to reaching your goals will be consistent, quality effort throughout the course.
Recording duties will rotate weekly normally. Each of you will get a chance to be a recorder, so help each other from the start.
There will likely be numerous exploratory discussions between students and me. You are expected to participate actively in such discussions even if you did not start the thread, in particular by asking questions or giving insights and examples based on your experience and background. In other words, I hope you will behave on the Internet just as you should in class, enriching the experience for us all.
You may contact any or all of the other students directly with questions or comments; however, please do not hesitate to share your observations with all of us.
Please also feel free to make suggestions for improvement of this course in both content and method.
UM WebTycho Using WebTycho Reading Conferences Off-line
Phil Richardson; prichard@faculty.ed.umuc.edu