Feedback and further thoughts - Week 10

April 1, 2010

Reading through longer articles such as Lewis and Abdul-Hamid's article, I find myself constantly taking breaks to reflect on discussions in the article. I almost wonder if it is true that we are becoming a Google Generation that is unable to process large amounts of information without breaks. One of the discussions that caught my eye in this article (also discussed this in the course conference) is the idea of providing solutions only to those students that submit assignments. This fascinates me as I wonder if the same principle could be used for interactivity online? Could we provide some incentive (other than grading) that would encourage thought provoking discussion? The idea of having a graded discussion, almost is similar to the idea of grading a portion of the class for showing up to face-to-face classes; basically, students do what they have to do (nothing more nothing less) as far as attendance goes to get a descent grade. What if students had to participate in a portion of the discussion in order to obtain a password that would allow them to join another discussion area, would this eliminate witness learning? I often find it difficult as a learner to put my thoughts out on the table for criticism; while you know that another learner is watching the discussion and not being criticized at all.