There are many ways in which people can communicate.
In tertiary studies academic argumentation is part of a healthy debate. The argument never attacks personally, but propositions and ideas are critically challenged with the view of furthering knowledge. The purpose is not to win or lose but to deconstruct an issue so as to understand it and reconstruct it with meaning.
This may be more difficult in an online course, especially if you are trying to follow the netiquette guidelines. There are a number of valid ways to use argumentation as a learning tool and we normally use them all at some stage in the process. We often think to ourselves or out loud, a monologue. Most of our discussions online involve at least one other person, a dialogue but sometimes there are many people involved in a discussion, all contributing to an issue, social construction. These are some approaches to think about and hopefully play around with in your online discussion.
This tutorial addresses:
Conversation or social chat
Monologue
Dialogue
Social construction with
-divergent thinking
-reflection and
-concept mapping
Conversation
Social chat, coffee club and introductions are a great way to establish social presence (the way other students and your facilitator know you are there). Although some people will be 'lurkers' and learn by 'peripheral participation' or watching others, there is good evidence that networking with other people helps you to learn.
Example Topic: Apples
M. I love this apple pie, so sweet
Y. Yes but let me give you the recipe for my grandmother's apple pie, more spicy than this one
M. Oh lovely and I'll swap you for my special apple ambrosia recipe.
Monologue.
The monologue starts as internal reflection and thinking ( inside your mind) and can then be spoken , or in the case of online learning, text-based posting on a discussion board.
Example Topic : Apples
Let me tell you about the humble apple. This fruit was known to have taken us from Eden and yet it is such a versatile and useful fruit. It contains vitamins and minerals as well as fibre and natural sugars.
Example Topic: Apples
Apples, Apples, Apples, Come and buy mother nature's freshest temptation at a store near you.
Solipsism. This is the situation when you only use monologue and it becomes difficult to see that there are others or other points of view. This is a bit like the sound of one hand clapping. The advances of online learning from distance education, is the capacity to interact with fellow students and facilitator.
Dialogue
Learning, it is argued, is a social event. We take in information from others (whether it be a book, text-based discussion, a lecture or we are shown how to do something). We reflect and give back ideas and questions. In academic dialogue, a Socratic approach is usually used. This has rules of engagement.
Socratic Discussion is the traditional way of academic argumentation, since the days of Plato and Socrates in ancient Greece.
The format is :
Person One
1 State an opinion
2 State the reasons why
3 Offer supporting evidence ( references, experiences, situations)
In response,
Person Two
1 Acknowledge their point
2 Explain why you disagree
3 Offer your opinion and supporting evidence ( references, experiences, situations).
The process can cycle over and over until you have understood the issue. The 'correct answer' is not the goal, but the process of teasing out the issues with respect to the problem is the real goal. This requires two polar or opposite points of view. The process aims to find a single answer using convergent thinking.
Example Topic: ApplesM. The apple is always red. See all the apples in this market, they are all red.
Y. I see what you mean however I have to disagree. Where I come from they are always green.
M. That is interesting, however I have only ever seen red apples. Could it be that you are talking about unripe apples?
This is a natural way in which people come together in a group to solve a practical problem. If the problem is learning, as in your online studies , then each piece of information added to the group experience is shared and goes towards building a body of knowledge. The total outcome then is greater than the sum of all the parts, like bricks that combine to make a building.
This sometimes requires a different approach from Socratic discussion. We are building trust, value diversities of opinion and expanding our network of contacts. There is no right answer but a large number of solutions. We often use lateral thinking, out -of -the box- thinking, brain -storming, divergent and other types of creative thinking.
Diagram 1. Divergent Thinking
Reflection is an important way of creating new thoughts ( critical thinking ) based on the shared discussions of others. Some people use a 'left-hand' column technique where they make notes about thoughts in the column of a book, whilst other people use a blog or diary to keep track of ideas.
For each problem or question, you need to think out loud ( or in written form). It is wise to:
STOP
THINK
about your
Thoughts,
Feelings,
Wishes and
Potential options (action based responses) and then write them down.
Diversity of thought is important. Like the elephant in the fable, Six Blind Men and the Elephant, we may only be seeing one part of the picture. Put them all together and we all benefit from the total picture (Saxe, http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Five_Blind_Men_and_an_Elephant)
As everyone shares their thoughts, experiences and readings, thinking becomes so divergent and snowballs as everyone in the group adds their information and reflections that you need to keep track of all the processes. There are some argumentation software tools that help. A visual program, like Venn diagrams or Concept Map helps to keep track of the knowledge that is being built.
Example Topic: Apples
Elkind, D.H. & Sweet, F ( 1997) The Socratic approach to character education. Educational Leadership Retrieved 3/2/2008 from GoogleScholarSearch http://www.goodcharacter.com/Article_2.html
Tannen, D. (1998). The Argument Culture: Moving from Debate to Dialogue. New York: Random House. (Available in the University of Southern Queensland Library).
