Engaging and effective asynchronous online discussion forums

Discussion is usually considered a powerful tool for the development of pedagogical skills such as critical thinking, collaboration and reflection. In the last few years, an online asynchronous discussion forum has become an integral part of teaching and learning in tertiary education. However, there are considerable challenges involved in designing discussion forum for learning and teaching arrangements that can support desired learning outcomes. The study analysed the factors that affect the level of the student participation in the online discussion forums with emphases on some of the critical issues that should be taken into account when designing online discussions forums that can support desired learning outcomes. We show that the course instructor roles and level of participations in the discussion forum particularly determines the overall level of discussion among the learning communities.

Industrial Relations: Proceedings from the 1999 Australasian Drama Studies Association Conference

These papers were presented at “Industrial Relations”, the Australasian Drama Studies Association conference hosted by Theatre & Teaching Studies in the Academy of the Arts, Queensland University of Technology, from the 5th to the 9th of July, 1999. Conference delegates included scholars and artists from across the tertiary education and professional theatre sectors, including, of course, many individuals who work across and between both those worlds. More than a hundred delegates from Australia, New Zealand, England, Belgium and Canada attended the week’s events, which included: • Over sixty conference papers covering a variety of topics from project reports to academy/industry partnerships, theatre history, audience reception studies, health & safety, cultural policy, performance theory, theatre technology and more; • Performances ranging from drama to dance, music and cabaret; • Workshops, panel discussions, forums and interviews; • Keynote addresses from Wesley Enoch, Josette Feral and Keith Johnstone; and • A special “Links with Industry” day, which included the launch of ADSA’s “Links with Industry” brochure, an interview between Mark Radvan and David Williamson, and a panel session featuring Jules Holledge, Zane Trow, Katharine Brisbane, John Kotzas, Gay McAuley and David Watt.

Aplicando Métodos de Mineração Visual de Texto em conteúdo de Fórum de Discussão

We are included in a society where the use of the Internet became very important to our everyday life. The relationships nowadays usually happen through technological devices instead of face to face contact, for instance, Internet forums where people can discuss online. However, the global analysis is a big challenge, due to the large amount of data. This work investigates the use of visual representations to support an exploratory analysis of contents in messages from discussions forums. This analysis considers the thematic and the chronology. The target forums refer to the educational area and the analysis happens manually, i.e. by direct reading message-by-message. The proprieties of perception and cognition of the human visual system allow a person the capacity to conduct high-level tasks in information extraction from a graphical or visual representation of data. Therefore, this work was based on Visual Analytics, an area that aims create techniques that amplify these human abilities. For that reason we used software that creates a visualization of data from a forum. This software allows a forum content analysis. But, during the work, we identified the necessity to create a new tool to clean the data, because the data had a lot of unnecessary information. After cleaning the data we created a new visualization and held an analysis seeking a new knowledge. In the end we compared the new visualization with the manual analysis that had been made. Analyzing the results, it was evident the potential of visualization use, it provides a better correlation between the information, enabling the acquisition of new knowledge that was not identified in the initial analysis, providing a better use of the forum content

Fóruns no ambiente Teleduc: reflexões sobre o papel dos mediadores e estratégias de gerenciamento de debates

Online discussion forums have been widely used in internet-mediated courses and blended courses. In these learning contexts, the mediator's (or tutor's) role in supporting successful learning is of considerable importance. Firstly, the present article discusses some studies in which the mediator's role in online learning environments is emphasized. Secondly, we use this discussion to support our qualitative case-study analysis, in which we investigated mediators' debate-management strategies in TelEduc virtual forums. Lastly, we propose a reflective framework about management strategies in forums in virtual learning platforms.

Noan Balakian, Gloria Orenstein, and Erika Duncan at The Woman's Salon.

Inscription: Verso: The Woman's Salon, New York. ; Seated on platform from left to right: Nona Balakian, Gloria Orenstein, and Erika Duncan.

Catharine Stimpson, Barbara Deming, Adrienne Rich, and Gloria Orenstein attending The Woman's Salon.

Inscription: Verso: The Woman's Salon, New York. Left to right: Catharine Stimpson, Barbara Deming, Adrienne Rich, and Gloria Orenstein.

Viveca Lindfors at the Woman's Salon.

Inscription: Verso: The Woman's Salon, New York.

Barbara Deming, Erika Duncan, Adrienne Rich, and Gloria Orenstein at The Woman's Salon

Inscription: Verso: The Woman's Salon, New York. Seated on platform: Barbara Deming, Erika Duncan, Adrienne Rich, and Gloria Orenstein.

Kate Millett at the Woman's Salon

Inscription: Verso: The Woman's Salon, New York.

Portrait of Henrietta Weigal at the Woman's Salon.

Inscription: Verso: The Woman's Salon, New York.

Judy Chicago reading at woman's salon event

Inscription: Verso: The Woman's Salon, New York.

Portrait of E.L. Broner

Inscription: Verso: The Woman's Salon, New York.

Portrait of Vivian Gornick

Inscription: Verso: The Woman's Salon, New York. Vivian Gornick reading "In Search of Ali Mahmoud."

Robin Morgan reading "Lady of the Beasts" with Erika Duncan to her right

Inscription: Verso: The Woman's Salon, New York. Robin Morgan reading "Lady of the Beasts" (left). At right is writer Erika Duncan, one of the founders of the Women's Salon.

Gloria Orenstein at the Woman's Salon

Inscription: Verso: The Woman's Salon, New York. Gloria Orenstein, founder.