Top Ten Educational Advantages NowComment online discussion
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Top Ten Educational Advantages of Online Discussion
(NowComment® White Paper — Fall 2012)
There are many reasons why online discussion of texts using NowComment is extremely effective at intellectually engaging students:
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NowComment Online Discussion |
Face-to-Face Discussion |
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General Differences |
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A lot of information is shared (text and pictures are visual, “high bandwidth”). |
Relatively little information shared (speech is low bandwidth). |
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Multiple simultaneous conversations; students can comment on whatever they find interesting (including tangential observations) without interrupting other conversations. |
There's only one conversation, which won't always touch on what a given student finds most interesting. Tangents can derail the current conversation. |
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No need to split attention for notes; full discussion transcript remains accessible for student review and teacher evaluation. |
Students and Instructors must juggle listening and note-taking; retention is constrained by imperfect memory and note-taking ability. |
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One upload gives the class ongoing access to both the document and discussion transcript. |
Time and expense of distributing paper copies (which students often lose or don’t bring). |
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Online discussion is a fresh format that leverages students' comfort, facility, and enjoyment of online and social media. |
A familiar but not exciting format. |
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Overcomes Time Constraints |
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Opportunity to make as many comments (subject to Instructor’s limits) as each person thinks is important, because making comments doesn't take time away from others. |
Only time for a few comments; some students get no turn to speak, many don't get to express thoughts they feel are important. |
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Opportunity for more developed, detailed, and nuanced comments; long comments don't take time away from others. |
There's usually no time to fully communicate complex ideas, explore tangential themes, etc. |
Top Ten Educational Advantages of Online Discussion
(page 2 of 2)
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NowComment Online Discussion |
Face-to-Face Discussion |
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Comfortable Online Social Context |
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Students can take time to think through and fully express their thoughts; no one is ever interrupted. |
A few extroverts can dominate the conversation, sometimes interrupting others; other students have to speak up quickly or risk losing their turn, even if their ideas aren't fully formed. Shy students rarely participate. |
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Students can intellectually engage with each other to explore in depth (i.e. multiple back-and-forths) similar or divergent perspectives, related ideas, interesting implications. |
Few chances to talk through differing perspectives, rarely able to ask follow-up questions or pose challenges. |
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Writing is done in private, often from home or other “safe” environment. Students can respond to whichever comments they choose. |
Relatively high social pressure (all eyes on the speaker). The instructor and/or each student's verbal assertiveness determine who gets to respond to which comments. |
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New Technology, New Options |
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With NowComment you can choose to hide a document's comments until a certain date and time, to minimize peer influence/pressure. |
Inescapable influence or pressure of previously voiced comments in class discussions. |
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Sort and tag comments, skim summaries, reply privately, include videos and images. |
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NowComment is very well suited to be the primary discussion format for distance learning. More commonly, it’s used in hybrid/blended classes to complement face-to-face discussion, lectures, and other traditional methods, e.g.:
- leverage online comments as organic starting points for face-to-face discussion
- assign online commenting to see what students understand before your lecture
- use online discussion to reinforce concepts after a lecture
Other NowComment educational resources (e.g. Instructor feedback, comparisons to other tools) are at: http://nowcomment.com/education
For more information please contact: [email protected] or @nowcomment
NowComment is a project of public interest group Fairness.com LLC.
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