Good Conduct In Online Education

STAK Activity

Good Conduct In Online Education

This activity will help students become active participants in online learning communities and establish productive norms.

INTRODUCTION

Students need to learn how to become active participants in online learning communities if they are to achieve the desired learning outcomes. But students come to online education with different experiences, competencies, and mindsets. This activity helps students work together to determine the elements of good conduct in an online community and to establish group norms and expected behaviours. It also helps students reflect on the roles they play in online learning communities and gives them experience of using collaborative tools.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

On completing this activity, students will:

Understand the meaning and value of active participation in a digital, online learning community.
Come to a collective agreement on how they will become active participants and the norms and behaviours of participation in their group.
Understand they have a shared responsibility in online learning.
Understand the roles they play in a learning community.
Have experience of co-writing a digital document that collates their knowledge and records their decisions.

HOW TO DELIVER THIS ACTIVITY

The activity asks students to co-write a paper entitled ‘The good points about participation in online teaching.’ In so doing they must work together to develop a mutual understanding of their own and each other’s roles and responsibilities as participants in an online learning community.

BEFORE THE ACTIVITY

Provide the context for this activity to the students, explaining why it is necessary, the learning goal and the process.
Select and give students access to an online bulletin board that will facilitate the task orally and in writing. In this example, we recommend using Padlet.
Ask students to confirm they have access to Padlet before the activity begins.

THE ACTIVITY: STEP BY STEP

Phase 1 (2 hours):

Step 1

Organise students into small groups, e.g., 3-4 students in each.

Phase 1 (2 hours):

Step 2

Task students to prepare a proposal for a joint working paper using Padlet. They should use Padlet to:

Brainstorm tasks;
Make suggestions for what should be included in the working paper;
Give feedback on another group's suggestions;
Receive feedback from another group;
Adjust the working paper based on the feedback received.

Phase 2 (2 hours):

Step 3

Provide students with a link to a shared document that they will collaborate on synchronously online, e.g., Google documents.

Phase 2 (2 hours):

Step 4

Ask students to use the content of their Padlet to:

Put structure on the working paper;
Evaluate the paper with feedback from another group;
Adjust the working paper;
Apply a template to the working paper that highlights the key elements.

Step 5

Ask students to observe and reflect on their behaviours and responsibilities and those of their group so that they can co-write a working paper that has involved everyone.

After the activity

Create an overview of the students' work ensuring that their contributions are visible.
Share the working paper among the students so that it can be used as a reference document for future work.

EDUCATOR TO-DO

Create a Padlet and a working document for collaboration e.g., Google Docs or a document shared via Teams. Share the links with your students.
Prepare a discussion that focuses on students’ experiences of digital learning communities. Here are some suggested prompts: ‘What are your experiences with digital learning communities?’, ‘What have you tried before?’, ‘What was your best experience?’, ‘What was your worst experience?’, ‘What are their proposals for a joint working paper?’

DESIGNED BY

Lisbeth Ramsgaard Carlsen, Søren Elle, Karen Harbo, Pernille Holm Lindhardt, AU Library, Denmark.