Collaboration+Corner

Colloboration Corner: Welcome to the Peer Coaching Program wiki space/discussion board! Please read “Seven Tips for Online Posts” below.

[|STARS Training Agenda] [|Unit Plan]

**Seven Tips for Online Posts** **1. Go gently into that good post.** Online no one can see your comment-softening facial expressions or hear the warm tone in your voice. Be gentle with your written comments. Know that sarcasm, irony, and even humor often backfire online. **2. Address the group, not individuals.** It builds community to write, “When Jim says he likes the NASA site, I wonder what others have done with it.” It may be more natural to write “Jim, loved your example,” but directly addressing an individual excludes others. When in doubt, group it! **3. Invite discussion with your subject line.** The discussion board automatically titles replies “Re: [Prior Subject Line]”, which invites participants to skip posts. Write inviting subjects, e.g., “Online movies of migrating salmon.” **4. When addressing roadblocks or analyzing ideas, paraphrase first.** Because it’s easy to misinterpret online posts, it’s always a good idea to paraphrase before you start thinking through a roadblock or analyzing an idea. **5. Read something you like in a post? Offer specifics, not empty praise.** Saying “Good point!” doesn’t advance the discussion, but “Love the way you compare moon rock data from the three sources—I’ll try them all and report” does. **6. To deepen the discussion, explain YOUR thinking process.** Online, attacking others’ ideas or even asking a ton of questions can undermine collaboration. What does work is to explore your thinking process, ideas and assumptions, and differences between your and others’ assumptions. **7. To REALLY deepen discussion, conclude with ONE clarifying or probing question.** If you’ve paraphrased someone’s main idea, offered specific praise for something you liked in the person’s post, and explained your own thinking process, you’ve gone a long way toward deepening discussion. To conclude, if there’s a natural question you can ask at the end of your post—to clarify a difference in assumptions or to probe an assumption—that question can really deepen discussion. For more ideas about deepening discussion online, see Haavind, S., //Why don’t face-to-face teaching strategies work in the virtual classroom?// available at []

More Online Resources: [|Did you know 3.0] [|Ning Social Networking Site] [|Do you believe in me?]