Facilitating Digital Communication.

Catalog description

Semester course; 3 lecture hours; 3 credits. The heart of online courses exists in communication: between instructors and students and among the students themselves. This communication requires strong writing and facilitation skills. This course will provide an overview of research related to online course communication as well as practical application for facilitating communications in online courses. Participants in the course will learn how to develop online discussions, employ a variety of techniques to encourage discussions, utilize a variety of tools to support discussion and moderate online conflict to create a healthy online learning environment. Activities will include analysis of online discussions to identify various discussion techniques, work in small groups to guide discussions and learning, respond to scenarios related to solving online conflict and experiment with Web-based discussion tools.