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Black Hawk College
Best Practices for Exemplary Online Instruction


PRINCIPLE 2: GOOD PRACTICE DEVELOPS RECIPROCITY AND COOPERATION AMONG STUDENTS.
"Learning is enhanced when it is more like a team effort than a solo race. Good learning, like good work, is collaborative and social, not competitive and isolated. Working with others often increases involvement in learning. Sharing one’s own ideas and responding to others’ reactions sharpens thinking and deepens understanding." (Chickering & Gamson, 1987)

The following best practices from the literature on online teaching and learning may provide you with specific ideas for what this principle might look like in an online course.


  1. Build a warm and inviting atmosphere among the online learning community of students through modeling, facilitating community-building activities (e.g., introductions/pictures, ice breakers) and monitoring student interactions. (see Principle #1 for more detail)

  2. Establish a Student Lounge (for informal conversation) and a course Q&A forum (where students can ask and answer questions of each other regarding course matters) in the discussion board.

  3. Outline expectations for student-student interaction in the syllabus or assignment specifications (e.g., responsibilities and instructions, do’s and don’ts, grading/weighting attributed to whole-class or small group interaction, rationale tied to course outcomes).

  4. Scaffold small group work on course projects or activities, i.e., establish a process for forming groups and assigning roles, provide tips and resources to assist with group tasks, create private work areas for collaboration and sharing of files/discussion/chat within the course site, monitor group functioning and provide early feedback to help groups function better, assess group functioning as part of collaborative assignments.

  5. Incorporate peer review and/or peer mentoring as part of any creative assignment, especially if it has multiple deliverables; e.g., writing, creative projects.

  6. Invite students to share ideas, resources, real-life examples, and other personal experiences in their postings.
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