online silence paper points

Some interesting excerpts from the Benfield paper to perhaps discuss later (in the wiki perhaps, if A-M is around, otherwise here).

- The social, nonacademic aspects of teaching take on a heightened importance online. Teachers have to work hard to develop a sense of community in their online groups.

- It can be far more satisfying to read the reflections of a student after a period of engagement with your learning material, than listening to their spontaneous response to your question in a tutorial or workshop

- In order to know what a student thinks or feels it’s necessary for the student to actively communicate. The teacher in this scenario is at the behest of her students' actions (or lack of them). **The centre of control has moved markedly away from the teacher, to the students.

- It was most important to first define your own expectations about communication, lay it out for students from the outset and then stick to it. If your expectations are not being fulfilled you have to follow up with e-mails or phone calls. Communication is critical. The rule is, actively avoid isolation.

- As in face-to-face teaching, the online teacher needs to reassure students that this is a learning environment, in which you are allowed, even expected, to make mistakes.

** This observation has relevence to my exploration of the solo-discussion. Though the solo-discussion-poster is doing all the work the balance of power lies with the non-contributors by their withholding of posts/comments. Until others interact with his thoughts (posts) his learning will be confined to his own interpretation of the problem and its solution. His thoughts are sterile they are fertilised with the comments and contributions (ideas) of other people.