No, I don\u2019t mean asynchronous communication \u2013 I mean asynchronous classes.<\/p>\n
At our alternative high school, we offer continuous intake at our widely dispersed campuses.\u00a0 Students begin working on a print-based course anytime during the year, and their progress through the course is self-paced.\u00a0 The campuses are much smaller than the typical high school, and students often find they have few opportunities to learn together with other students. \u00a0Can we enhance our print-based courses by offering opportunities for interaction?\u00a0 Is it possible to form a community of learning from these independent learners?\u00a0 What communication tools can we use to create a supportive environment? Can we structure online learning activities to help our students develop their thought process through discourse?<\/p>\n
I\u2019m working with a team of teachers on a new version of a science course, and I have been thinking about how students could participate in asynchronous discussions.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think it would be very useful to have discussions based on different units of the course \u2013 this may spread the participation too thin, since the students will all be at various points in the course.\u00a0 I think participation may be broader if the discussions are structured in such a way that students working at any point in the course can participate in them.<\/p>\n
One way to design these discussions could be to build them around the Goals of the Science Program.\u00a0 For example, one of the goals is \u201cto relate science to technology, society, and the environment\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0 Students could participate in a discussion that asked them to describe a technology related to the science unit they are currently working on.<\/p>\n
Another way to structure the discussion could be to focus on the \u201cBig Ideas\u201d of the science curriculum \u2013 a focus that we have kept as we work on developing the course.\u00a0 Students have been working with the fundamental concepts of science throughout their schooling, and can participate in discussions about one of the \u201cBig Ideas\u201d of the course, whether or not they have completed that particular unit, yet.\u00a0 This can act as a preview for students starting in the course, and as a reflection for those nearing the end.<\/p>\n
Another way to offer students an opportunity for interaction could be to have collaborative tasks designed \u201cto develop the skills, strategies, and habits of mind required for scientific investigation\u201d \u2013 another of the goals of the science program. \u00a0Students can apply these skills to scientific research or inquiry, across all units of the course.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
No, I don\u2019t mean asynchronous communication \u2013 I mean asynchronous classes. At our alternative high school, we offer continuous intake at our widely dispersed campuses.\u00a0 Students begin working on a print-based course anytime during the year, and their progress through the course is self-paced.\u00a0 The campuses are much smaller than the typical high school, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3436,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-42","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/longoetec565a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/longoetec565a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/longoetec565a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/longoetec565a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3436"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/longoetec565a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/longoetec565a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/longoetec565a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42\/revisions\/44"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/longoetec565a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/longoetec565a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/longoetec565a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}