Online socialisation: Stage two of the five stage model

Stage two is when students are beginning to engage with the materials, the tutor (or are we to refer to the tutor as the e-moderator?), and with other students.

One of my first attempts to begin bringing students 'into' the course on the Intro to Positive Psychology distance learning module has been to direct students to the discussion forum on Bb and write a post to 'say hello!' to show they made it there, knew how to post a comment, and to say a little about themselves and what brought them to this course. I feel now this was a little one-dimensional and could have been just one of some more in-depth attempts to begin interactivity between students. The attendance version of this module has students introduce themselves to the group and this can be quite an uplifting exercise as students begin to quickly share information about themselves. This is harder to support and encourage online when students feel more distant (literally and figuratively) from each other.

However, mindful of Salmon's (2000) five stage model, I will consider ways in which I can give greater emphasis to this important element of online socialisation for students. For example, I can encourage students to say more about their background, their interest in positive psychology, what has brought them to the course, and what they hope to gain from the course. The next time this module runs it will likely form part of a fully 'distance' MAPP and so the module will be part of a longer programme. That said, there will still be some students who are on the module as a stand-alone short course.

Reference
Salmon, G. (2000). E-moderating: the key to teaching and learning online. London: Kogan Page.