Week 3

The ideas presented in our discussion in week three have proven to be important and reoccuring themes in eLearning. Our main discussion surrounded the idea of instructor vs. student involvement, especially in threaded discussion. For the most part our group agreed, instructor involvement is a must, but should not over-power student involvement, because students tend to get to other students better. David Sprouse put it quite nicely when he stated:

In my view a good instructor doesn't just provide the right answer, but tries to lead his/her students in discovering the right answer for themselves. That is when the "learning" really takes place.

This is right inline with how I was thinking, but this is something I think needs to be told to the students. Students tend to see teachers as "right" and they aren't always, they are (or should be) good at getting others to think. I really like this idea. I want to be this kind of teacher and really person in general. Too often, I try to be 100% right or at least look that way.

Eileen brought up a quote on self-disclosure and moved the discussion in that direction. Our group was torn, but I see our main topic of concern as being the true definition of self-disclosure. My greatest contribution was when I attempted to help clarify this when I stated:

I don't think self-disclosure is necessarily something personal, or personal in the way it seems to be being discussed. Self-disclosure could be sharing your "personal" idea, or agreeing with a statement by shaking your head.....either way you are disclosing what you believe and understand.

This was one of the last comments made and no one responded, but I think it is always important to define your terms before you discuss with others, otherwise you may never be on the same page.