{"id":3013,"date":"2014-09-23T14:36:06","date_gmt":"2014-09-23T18:36:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/grace-ed.org\/blog\/?p=3013"},"modified":"2014-09-23T14:36:06","modified_gmt":"2014-09-23T18:36:06","slug":"using-instructional-prompts-for-online-learning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/grace-ed.org\/blog\/archives\/3013","title":{"rendered":"Using Instructional Prompts for Online Learning"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/grace-ed.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/prompts.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/grace-ed.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/prompts-300x119.jpg\" alt=\"prompts\" width=\"300\" height=\"119\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-3016\" srcset=\"http:\/\/grace-ed.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/prompts-300x119.jpg 300w, http:\/\/grace-ed.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/prompts.jpg 808w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\nThe greatest potential of the online learning environment is its capacity to foster high levels of interactive learning that leads to &#8220;deep understanding.&#8221;  The instructor&#8217;s role is critical to making this happen. The manner and frequency of the instructor&#8217;s response to students in the discussion forums is what tends to determine the quality of the learning experience.<br \/>\n<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>\n<b>Instructional Responses<\/b>\n<\/p>\n<p>\nYour ability to provide effective  instructional feedback on your courses discussion forums will be the key to successful student learning.  For effectiveness instructors should minimize non-instructional responses and maximize instructional prompts. While your instructional prompts will be in response to an individual student&#8217;s post, it should serve the purpose of moving the discussion along for the class as a whole.\n<\/p>\n<p>\nPay close attention to your student&#8217;s posts. If a student&#8217;s response is correct, give a short, overt affirmation. If a student&#8217;s FORMAT in responding is incorrect, say so and allow the student to correct the post. If a student&#8217;s CONTENT response is incorrect (factually wrong, reflects a misunderstanding), provide corrective feedback.\n<\/p>\n<p>\nWhen reviewing your students&#8217; responses judge critically. Look for correct responses and expected incorrect response and use them as opportunities for instructional prompts. Allow time for students to think about and compose responses to complex questions. Use student responses as opportunities to refer the class members to readings or instructional content.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n<b>Instructional Prompts<\/b>\n<\/p>\n<p>\nInstructional prompts are those instructor responses that help the students move toward &#8220;deep understanding&#8221; of the course concepts. Here are eight types of instructional prompts you can use when responding to student posts online. These prompts are directly correlated to facets of critical thinking.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n<b><i>Critical Thinking Prompts<\/i><\/b>\n<\/p>\n<p><ul>\nWhy do you say so?<br \/>\nWhere else might that idea apply?<br \/>\nIs that your opinion, or did you overhear that?<br \/>\nWhat might be the consequences of that action?<br \/>\nWhat might someone else say about that?<br \/>\nWhat would that take?<br \/>\nHow did you arrive at that opinion?\n<\/ul>\n<\/p>\n<p>\n<b><i>Elaboration Prompts<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\nCould you go into that in more detail?<br \/>\nI would expand that idea by saying\u2026..<br \/>\nWho can expand on that idea from your own context\/experience?<br \/>\nI&#8217;m not sure now that applies. Can you build on that idea more?\n<\/ul>\n<\/p>\n<p>\n<b><i>Clarification Prompts<\/i><\/b>\n<\/p>\n<p><ul>\nWhat exactly do you mean?<br \/>\nDo I understand you to mean\u2026.?<br \/>\nPlease provide an example to help us understand your point of view.<br \/>\nCan you provide a short definition for how you are using that term?\n<\/ul>\n<\/p>\n<p>\n<b><i>Comparison Prompts<\/i><\/b>\n<\/p>\n<p><ul>\nThat&#8217;s an interesting statement. How does that compare with what was previously said? With what the author of the text claimed?<br \/>\nI might compare that with\u2026.. Do you think that&#8217;s a fair comparison?<br \/>\nI see the following similarities in the ideas presented so far\u2026..  What others do you see?\n<\/ul>\n<\/p>\n<p>\n<b><i>Contrasting Prompts<\/i><\/b>\n<\/p>\n<p><ul>\nHow would you contrast your idea to the one that (name of other) gave previously?<br \/>\nIn contrast to your statement, I think\u2026.<br \/>\nI see that idea as different from his\/her&#8217;s in these ways\u2026<br \/>\nHow does your interpretation contrast with the author&#8217;s (with another student)?<br \/>\nCan you offer a contrasting view of opinion?\n<\/ul>\n<\/p>\n<p>\n<b><i>Justification Prompts<\/i><\/b>\n<\/p>\n<p><ul>\nHow would you defend that statement against\u2026.?<br \/>\nWhat assumptions are you basing that on?<br \/>\nTell me why you think that idea\/solution would work.\n<\/ul>\n<\/p>\n<p>\n<b><i>Evaluation Prompts<\/i><\/b>\n<\/p>\n<p><ul>\nWhat is your reaction to that idea?<br \/>\nMy reaction to that\/your idea is\u2026.<br \/>\nWhat do you think of that idea?<br \/>\nTell me why you think your idea\/solution is better.\n<\/ul>\n<\/p>\n<p>\nWhile these prompts also work in the classroom environment, the immediacy of the classroom discussion and the limitations of time constraints makes it a challenge for a teacher to engage in deep learning dialogue. The online environment provides the instructor with the luxury of analyzing student responses, identifying the best feedback-prompt to use, and formulating the response to help the student, and the class, move toward deeper learning.\n<\/p>\n<p>\nUsing a hybrid format, an instruction can determine which course components may be nest to move to the online discussion forum to allow for more process and discussion time so the instructor can be more effective in the use of instructional prompts for deeper learning.\n<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.israelgalindo.com\/\">Israel Galindo<\/a> is Associate Dean for Lifelong Learning at the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ctsnet.edu\/lifelong-learning\">Columbia Theological Seminary<\/a>. Formerly, he was Dean at the Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond. He is the author of the bestseller, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/The-Hidden-Lives-Congregations-Discerning\/dp\/1566993075\/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;amp;qid=1383754843&amp;amp;amp;sr=8-1&amp;amp;amp;keywords=hidden+lives+of+congregations\">The Hidden Lives of Congregations<\/a> (Alban), <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Perspectives-Congregational-Leadership-effective-leadership-ebook\/dp\/B00D4Z4NX8\/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;amp;amp;ie=UTF8&amp;amp;amp;qid=1383754894&amp;amp;amp;sr=1-1&amp;amp;amp;keywords=perspectives+on+congregational+leadership\">Perspectives on Congregational Leadership<\/a> (Educational Consultants), and<a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Family-Genogram-Workbook-Israel-Galindo\/dp\/097157653X\/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;amp;qid=1387558724&amp;amp;amp;sr=8-1&amp;amp;amp;keywords=a+family+genogram+workbook\"> A Family Genogram Workbook<\/a> (Educational Consultants), with Elaine Boomer and Don Reagan.\n<\/p>\n<p><div>His books on Christian education include <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Craft-Christian-Teaching-Essentials-Becoming-ebook\/dp\/B002RDDOSI\/ref=sr_1_7?s=books&amp;amp;amp;ie=UTF8&amp;amp;amp;qid=1399985521&amp;amp;amp;sr=1-7&amp;amp;amp;keywords=israel+galindo\">The Craft of Christian Teaching<\/a> (Judson), <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Christian-Study-Leader-History-Universe\/dp\/0817015000\/ref=sr_1_cc_3?s=aps&amp;amp;amp;ie=UTF8&amp;amp;amp;qid=1399985464&amp;amp;amp;sr=1-3-catcorr&amp;amp;amp;keywords=israel+galindo\">How to be the Best Christian Study Group Leader<\/a> (Judson), Planning for Christian Education Formation (Chalice), and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Christian-Educators-Lists-Smyth-Helwys\/dp\/1573123471\/ref=sr_1_8?s=books&amp;amp;amp;ie=UTF8&amp;amp;amp;qid=1399985521&amp;amp;amp;sr=1-8&amp;amp;amp;keywords=israel+galindo\">A Christian Educator&#8217;s Book of Lists<\/a> (S&amp;H).<\/div>\n<\/p>\n<p>\nGalindo contributes to the Wabash Center&#8217;s <a href=\"http:\/\/wabashcenter.typepad.com\/wabash_center_deans_blog\/\">blog for theological school deans<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The greatest potential of the online learning environment is its capacity to foster high levels of interactive learning that leads to &#8220;deep understanding.&#8221; The instructor&#8217;s role is critical to making this happen. The manner and frequency of the instructor&#8217;s response &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/grace-ed.org\/blog\/archives\/3013\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,34],"tags":[57,42,46,268],"class_list":["post-3013","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-teaching","category-technology-and-education","tag-education","tag-israel-galindo","tag-learning","tag-teaching"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/grace-ed.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3013","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/grace-ed.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/grace-ed.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/grace-ed.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/grace-ed.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3013"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/grace-ed.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3013\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3018,"href":"http:\/\/grace-ed.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3013\/revisions\/3018"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/grace-ed.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3013"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/grace-ed.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3013"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/grace-ed.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3013"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}