- Tuesday, 22 September 2020
11:00 am - 12:30 pm - Zoom – further details provided upon registration
Despite our efforts to improve student interaction and engagement online, a number of students still report feelings of isolation. This is partly because the human need to connect is often not met in asynchronous environments, which lack the incidental and informal daily interactions of on-campus study. Designing in belonging in the online space can be challenging and requires a far more deliberate approach to fostering meaningful interaction, which can reduce isolation as students become part of a learning community.
With a specific focus on the use of asynchronous discussion forums, Dr Janine Delahunty will discuss both the theory and practice of how we can successfully build learning communities online by engaging students in meaningful participation and guiding their co-construction of knowledge. Please join us to learn more about how you can use your discussion forums to encourage reciprocal and respectful interactions, help students value different perspectives, and foster students’ sense of belonging and identity formation. We encourage you to bring an example of a task-based discussion forum you currently use to workshop with your peers.
Related Resource
Guest presenter
Dr Janine Delahunty is currently a 2020 Equity Research Fellow with the National Centre for Student Equity in Higher Education, and a Lecturer in Academic Development at the University of Wollongong. Her PhD research took a social-semiotic perspective to the construction of knowledge, identity and community in asynchronous discussion forums. Janine has worked on large research grants for the ARC, OLT and NCSEHE, and in 2019 was awarded the Higher Education Research and Development Article of the Year with Professor Sarah O’Shea, for their paper, Getting through the day and still having a smile on my face! How do students define success in the university learning environment? Janine is currently investigating how regional people navigate into and through higher education.
Register for this event
Your video, audio and the meeting chat transcript may be recorded or photographed. Please advise the facilitator if you do not wish to be recorded or photographed.
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