A bit of background
The Fundamentals of Avocado Production is an online course that I put together for AgriColleges. The course was designed as a proof of concept of a constructivist and mobile friendly course. The course is intended for remote students (usually drawn from the agricultural sector) and takes an active approach to learning. The work is structured around avocado production tasks with student led work being shared via YouTube.
Conversations are supposed to take place on a discussion forums. Students are set tasks that pertain to avocado media and are expected to draw links between these YouTube videos and what they are learning about avocado production. The learning activities that I designed included
- Create a YouTube channel
- Curate a playlist on avocado growing
- Compile their own YouTube video (using PowerPoint)
The overall challenge that holds this unit together is for students to create their own presentation (preferably in Video on YouTube) where they talk about an issue with avocado production and how they would solve it.
Making discussions meaningful
Discussion forums are often poorly implemented in a course. Students are not sure about what is expected. To help them to make considered contributions, a set of expectations for the posts was clearly articulated. Guidelines for discussion forum posts were detailed in a visible rubric against which student posts were assessed. Students were required to include responses to these three questions:
- What do I think about this topic?
- Why do I think what I think?
- What do I want to ask to my instructor and peers
These three requirements were included in all their discussion posts and so was practiced through-out the course. These requirement were also applied when they posted links to their YouTube tasks. Students could both practice their digital skills whilst engaged in metacognition about the topic.
Advantages & Outcomes
The forums created the basis for an online community. In a constructive environment, students were able to share their thoughts, question their own understanding and respond to other’s posts and work. The combination of discussion forums with their YouTube tasks made for a positive learning experience. Students loved making their own videos and getting feedback from peers. The combination of subject knowledge with digital skills meant that students gained more holistic set of skills. They became more fluent in using rich media and utilizing readily available information about avocado’s for their own purposes. A detailed rubric assisted course facilitators to mark discussion forum contributions even thought they might not had without specific knowledge about the subject matter. Assessment of student’s work was both reliable and valid.
