Developing Writing and Critical Thinking Skills through the Use of Moodle Forums
Sunday, October 11th, 2009Contributed by Linda Martin, Coordinator of English Language Support and International Services and Part-time Instructor of English
Finding new strategies to encourage my students to develop their writing skills is always at the forefront of my pedagogy. Although I am still a novice with technological methodologies, I am becoming fond of the idea of teaching beyond the walls of my classrooms with the use of technology. I’ve always been a student of alternative approaches to education when I see a clear benefit. With continued experimentation with Moodle applications such as its Forum feature, I have found innovative ways to teach my students and extraordinary ways for them to learn, not only from me, but also from one another.
There are multiple transitions for most international (and non-native speakers) students when it comes to understanding the teaching and learning styles in a DePauw classroom environment. Often, cultural and societal traditions are still active in their mindsets and can influence their oral participation among their peers. However, I have learned that with Moodle’s Forum feature, I can minimize these inhibitors and establish a more equal rhetorical environment. Here is one example that I find most useful.
One of my strategies is to establish robust discussions related to our weekly readings. Sometimes during these classroom discussions when we have achieved a heightened level of critical thinking and expression, I observe body language among the students that can alter or even inhibit the direction of our discussions. Who is really going to express themselves about the topic in front of their peers? Who would dare say something less than totally flattering about his/her government or even about America’s government? So, I created the Readers’ Discussion Forum. In this required weekly discussion group, teams are created for each week consisting of either three or four students – depending upon the total number of students in the class. The team members decide which role each will play: Initiator – the one who initiates the discussions; Provocateur – the one who stimulates the discussions with probing comments or questions; Summarizer – the one who reads and captures the essence of everyone’s comments and identifies the thread(s), or main ideas that connect the responses. Questions are developed by the team and sent to me by Monday morning of the week the readings are to be read and discussed. This means that a team must be “ahead” of the rest of the class in their reading of the materials. I review the questions to ensure that they will promote thoughtful and stimulating responses. All week, students are posting their responses to the questions as well as replying to each other’s responses.
What are some of the benefits of this type of teaching and learning? Students are comfortable writing from their own laptops; they can be reflective and take the time to compose more thoughtful responses than when speaking in an in-class discussion; they learn to respect other perspectives even if contradictory to their own personal values; they practice their writing skills; absences do not cause obstacles to completing their assignments or to miss interacting with their peers; active participation is guaranteed. In addition to developing critical thinking and enhancing writing skills, technological skills are also developed that can be applied later in different situations.
As an educator, I see an embedded value that I cannot always accomplish in the classroom - a level of intellectual curiosity that is cultivated through writing in a discussion format, which could also happen with our students who are native speakers of English. Through the use of forums, I have found that students’ thinking processes are enhanced by and developed through these extended opportunities for communicating and writing. Because classes are determined by time block parameters, time is a factor that limits group discussions and it can diminish both a charged discussion and/or the epiphany of a new concept. However, in the Moodle Forum, a student can continue to express himself/herself and other students will respond accordingly. It becomes an ongoing conversation throughout the week in and outside of the classroom.
I believe there are numerous pedagogical benefits to using technologies that allow us to extend beyond the walls of the traditional classroom. As these technologies become more sophisticated, staying familiar with them and their proper uses will allow us and our students, in general, to benefit from expanded learning opportunities.