M.O.D.E. and Round Robin CoLT

For the FCSCL course, we're using the book Collaborative Learning Techniques: A Handbook for College Faculty as one of the texts. As we go through the course, we'll be trying to apply some of the collaborative learning techniques ("CoLTs") to our online discussions. During the current period, we're doing one of the CoLTs designed for discussion, called Round Robin.

In this CoLT, everyone has a chance to speak once before general discussion begins. So we're applying this to the M.O.D.E. approach and everyone has to post once in each stage (think, talk, work, look) before more posts can be made in that stage.

I'm finding that this helps me a lot with one of the big mistakes I feel like I often make as an online instructor--jumping in and responding to every post at the very beginning of the conversation. I feel like I don't often enough just sit back and let the students fill the space with their own voices--my voice ends up dominating because I post so much.

But since we're doing this round robin style, I'm having to "sit on my hands" and not say anything until it's my turn again. I'm finding this valuable--giving me the discipline to reflect more on what others are saying than I might normally.

Often there are students who post very frequently, too, and there's as much danger of their voices dominating as ther is of the the instructor's. I'm thinking that this round robin approach can be helpful here, too.