Now Presenting

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Let's introduce our peers face-to-face and online.

Online Collaboration Tools

Over the course of T2T, you will have numerous opportunities to collaborate with other participants and learn from each other. Many of these opportunities for collaboration are built into upcoming sessions. Others might happen online between sessions. These activities are designed to introduce you to the online collaboration tools.

Part A: Introductions

We'd like to have you get to know the other participants in your group and how they use DLC tools and resources. In addition, we'd like to introduce you to the T2T Discussion Board.

Getting Started

1. Following your facilitator's directions and the Now Presenting handout in your Participant Handbook, please introduce yourself to one participant who is not at your school.
2. Spend a few minutes to share:
   • Where you teach.
   • What you teach.
   • How you currently use DLC tools and resources.
   • One interesting thing the other participants wouldn't know about you unless you brought it up. Example: You traveled to _____ (state, country, area) last year and loved it.
3. You may want to take notes so that you will be prepared to introduce your interviewee online.
4. At the signal from your facilitator, please return to your seat and prepare to introduce your interviewee to the group.

Part B: Using the Discussion Board

Your facilitator will lead an orientation to our T2T Discussion Board.

Follow the directions in Part B of the Now Presenting handout to log into the T2T Discussion Board and introduce your interviewee online. Before doing this, let's look at Part C.

Part C: Seven Tips for Online Posts

There are seven things to consider when posting to our discussion board in GoPost. Let's take a minute to review them. They are also located in Part C of your handout.

1. Go gently into that good post. Online no one can see your facial expressions or hear your voice. Be gentle; sarcasm, irony, and even humor often backfire online.
2. Invite folks in with your subject line. GoPost automatically titles replies "Re: Prior Subject Line," which invites folks to skip posts. Write inviting subjects, e.g., "Online movies of migrating salmon."
3. Address the group, not individuals. Build community with statements like, "When Jim says he likes the NASA site, I wonder what others have done with it." A direct address ("Jim, I agree!") is natural but tends to exclude others online.
4. Use specifics to advance group understanding. We're all tempted to write "atta-girl!" posts: "Jane, I agree 100%." It's much more collaborative to get specific and group-focused: "When Jane highlights how useful the Marco Polo site's been for her students, I'm wondering if others have strong sites to recommend."
5. Paraphrase first, then analyze. Avoid misinterpretation: Paraphrase others' ideas, then think through a roadblock or analyze an idea.
6. To advance discussion, look openly at YOUR ideas. Online, attacking others' ideas or even asking a ton of questions can undermine collaboration. Instead, try exploring your thinking process, ideas, and assumptions.
7. Finish with a focus on advancing group understanding. If you've paraphrased, focused on the group, stayed specific, and explored your own assumptions, you've advanced discussion. To conclude, consider asking one natural question to clarify or probe assumptions or throw out a new idea for the group to consider.

Debrief

1. How did adding the online introductions change the typical workshop icebreaker?
2. What are the benefits and pitfalls you see with using this approach?

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