eModeration for asynchronous & blended learning (Part 1): The basics

This is a series of three posts on eModeration aimed at educators who wish to create discussion forums to maximise communication in their asynchronous or blended classes. With COVID-19 forcing schools and universities to move their classrooms online, forum discussions can extend engagement beyond the synchronous class. Edmodo, Moodle, Google Classroom, Blackboard, Schoology and even Facebook closed groups are just a few examples of platforms that can host our online learning communities and asynchronous discussions. 

The number one essential ingredient for creating and maintaining engagement and interaction is eModeration and this three-part article will look at how we can use it to our advantage.

Part 1 will introduce you to the concept of eModeration and suggest ways to establish quality forums.

Part 2 will discuss how we can develop and sustain meaningful interactions by guiding the forum discussions and asking the right questions. 

Finally, Part 3 will discuss assessment. Should students’ contributions be graded and what implications may this have on their participation in forums?

Part 1: The basics

Why moderating?

Merely creating an online community and asking students to participate in forums does not necessarily lead to meaningful discussions (or any discussions at all). A moderator needs to: 

• organise online discussions and motivate students to participate in them
• act as facilitator and keep students engaged and on topic
• help students feel part of a learning community
• monitor and (if necessary) censor comments and posts
• keep the discussion thread free of personal insults and derogatory comments.

Image by Eileen Catasus Chapman from Pixabay

Rules & guidelines

Make sure your students are aware of the rules and guidelines of your online community so that they know what is or isn’t acceptable. Just posting the rules on the first page of the LMS, however, doesn’t mean that students have read or understood them. Make sure you repeat them on a regular basis or create lesson plans around the topic. If possible, involve them in the decision making as it will encourage greater ownership and motivation. 

Should the moderator reply to all comments? 

A moderator guides, facilitates and sustains asynchronous discussions but does not need to reply to every single post that students make. The goal is to encourage participants to talk to each other, so take a back seat but don’t disappear (Burch,  2019). Moderators need to be present and active otherwise students will stop participating. 

Should language errors be moderated?

Language teachers often ask me whether they should be moderating posts or comments that contain errors. This depends entirely on your aims but rejecting comments for accuracy can be discouraging for students. After all, the communicative classroom is not error-free, why should our forums be? However, language teachers can ask students to: 

• always proofread before making a post
• rephrase if their errors impede understanding 
• ask for clarification if they don’t understand what a classmate has posted. This is a great opportunity for teaching communication skills too e.g. What do you mean? Can you give us some examples? 

Posting students’ photos online

Decide in advance whether you are going to moderate primary and secondary students’ pictures. Students love seeing their pictures online but according to GDPR rules, you will need their parents’ or carers’ consent to publish minors’ pictures online (Parker, 2018). Although consent can be a one-off (e.g. at the beginning of the school year), ask students to use avatars instead of pictures if you want to avoid consent altogether. If your online space is password protected and you enjoy the personal element photos can add, ask parents to provide consent at the beginning of the year (see Parker, 2018). In any case, make a point that nobody (including teachers or classmates) should tag or post other students’ pictures without asking them first.

eSafety

Do not adopt an over-protective approach as a response to online risk. As stated before, one of the best eSafety measures is not avoiding risk but increasing students’ resilience to it (Mavridi, 2017). You may ask your students to avoid sharing links for example for fear these may contain viruses or pornographic material but this could create a dull, sterile environment that will eventually put students off. Instead, teach them that not all links are innocent and that they should check twice before they share them with their classmates. 

Controversial issues 

Do not delete posts or comments just because they may be referring to controversial or taboo issues. On the contrary, encourage debate and use it as an opportunity to show students that freedom of speech is vital as long as people express their opinions politely. 

Deleting students’ comments

If students spam or make inappropriate contributions remove their posts straight away! However, it is important that you talk to the student in private and try to understand the reasons behind this behaviour. Most of the times, teenagers and young adults have the best of intentions but they just like to break the rules. Without identifying the student, you could also encourage a class discussion on spamming and flaming and elicit why they are both inappropriate.

Teach digital literacy in context

Online communities give us plenty of opportunities to teach – in context – two vital digital literacy skills: eSafety and Netiquette. Use all the above techniques to bring in these vital literacies and turn mistakes into learning opportunities. Talk about digital identity and digital footprint; ask students to reflect on their online participation in general and encourage them to apply the same principles to all the digital communities they participate in. 

Part 2 of this series will discuss how we can develop and sustain meaningful interactions by guiding the forum discussions and asking the right questions. Watch this space – or subscribe to this blog to receive the next post via email (👀 top left for subscription button).

References

Burch, J.R. (2019). Moderation tips for online learning. Training industry. Retrieved from https://trainingindustry.com/articles/e-learning/moderation-tips-for-online-learning/

Parker, K. (2018). Busting the myth around GDPR and pictures of pupils. TES. Retrieved from https://www.tes.com/news/busting-myth-around-gdpr-and-pictures-pupils

Mavridi, S. (2017). Digital Welfare and eSafety.  The Digital Teacher. Cambridge Assessment English. Retrieved from https://thedigitalteacher.com/blog/digital-welfare-and-esafety-for-learners

Please cite as: Mavridi, S. (2020). eModeration for asynchronous & blended learning (PART 1): The basics. Digital Learning. Received from https://sophiamavridi.com/emoderation-part-1/

NOTE: A version of this article first appeared in the IATEFL Learning Technologies Newsletter LT and has been adapted and published here with the permission of the LTSIG editor Graham Stanley.

Adapted from Mavridi, S. (2019). All in eModeration, Part 1. LT (1). IATEFL LTSIG Newsletter.