Journal 3: "Keep Them Chatting"

Cole, Jeannie (February 2009). Keep Them Chatting. Learning and Leading with Technology, 37, Retrieved March 11, 2009, from http://localhost:51966/learning_leading/200902-offline2/index.html

The article, "Keep Them Chatting", by Jeannie Cole explores different techniques to address the loss of interest or attention from your students when teaching them new curriculum using the Internet. The first of the 5 techniques she suggest is to ask students "high-level open-ended questions" where they are asked to discuss their answers with groups and follow up with an online tool for presenting the answers. The next techniques are the inquiry method and the discrepant inquiry method. With this method students research a given question. The next technique is to learn by personal examples. Students research and create their own example to share with the class. Finally, the last technique is to use illogical comparisons. With this method students will need to research a given concept and find an illogical comparison. Every technique that Cole mentions, is backed up with an example from the classroom. I think that these are great ways to engage students in the classroom, within the borders of an online context. I can see the useful qualities of creating more interactive lessons on the computer where students are being challenged to think and create.

Question #1: What would be the best technique to use for a class that is overactive and creative?
Answer: Personal Example. The students here would be given the opportunity to think and create for themselves without too much of a restriction. They would all participate and apply their knowledge, in pairs.

Question#2: What is the importance of using techniques such as the ones Cole describes? These techniques allow for students to become more interested in the assignments as well as have to invest their time and energy into the projects. These techniques require students' participation and don't allow for non-listening.