Sharing learning through a discussion board
Overview
Click to view
Nicolle Browning’s S2 English class at Carluke High School in South Lanarkshire were initially unenthusiastic about studying Roald Dahl’s memoir “Going Solo”. This cookbook describes how sharing learning in a Glow Group changed a few minds!
Context
“Going Solo” is the second instalment of Roald Dahl’s autobiography. He describes how at the age of 20 he started to work for Shell in Africa and then soon after joined the RAF at the outbreak of World War Two.
As Nicolle and her S2 class started their study of the book, it quickly became apparent that the pupils were less than impressed. They had expected something humorous, more akin to “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”, and were disappointed by the style and subject of the book. Some of the girls were particularly unenthusiastic, dismissing it as an adventure or war novel.
In order to develop pupils’ understanding of the cultural and historical context – and thereby generate interest in the book – Nicolle created a Glow Group with web links, tasks, resources and a discussion board. This would allow pupils to research topics of their own choice and share their learning with their peers.
Nicolle Browning shows how pupils have used a Glow Group to share their learning
On the Noticeboard page of the Glow Group, Nicolle posted useful web links, such as those for the official Roald Dahl site, the Roald Dahl museum and the fan club. Pupils enjoyed using these sites, to find out more about the author, his life and work.
Also on the Noticeboard page, Nicolle posted up homework tasks. This reminded pupils of the tasks they had been set and the timescales for completion.
The class used the Discussions page for their independent research task. Each pupil selected a cultural aspect of the book to study, with topics chosen ranging from African languages to fighter planes!
Click to view
Examples of the pupils’ messages on the discussion board are shown in the images on this page (click on the images to view them in close up). Pupils posted messages on the discussion board in a variety of styles – from those who selected an MSN or texting style, to those who wrote in a more formal style. Regardless of the style, what is clearly evident is the pupils’ enthusiasm for the independent research activity, their fascination with the information they’re discovering, and their enjoyment of sharing it with their peers. Nicolle also found it beneficial to be able to use the discussion board to give informal feedback to pupils’ about their work.
Nicolle was delighted with the final results of the research task, which pupils presented as a Word file attached to a discussion posting. Pupils had used an appropriately formal tone in their writing, and displayed an impressive quality both in the level of their research and in the maturity of the language structures.
Ingredients
Nicolle’s Glow Group is an excellent example of how the basic Glow features, such as the Web links and Discussions web parts, can be used to very good effect and contribute significantly to pupils’ interest, enjoyment and sense of ownership of their learning.
If you would like to do something similar with your class, all you will need to get started is a Glow Group. You will need to have at least Contributor permissions to the Glow Group (but preferably Administrator) and your pupils will need to have at least ‘Reader with Discussions’ permissions.
Recipe
The video clips below show how to use the basic web parts of a Glow Group:
* how to use the News web part
* how to display web links
* how to use the Discussion board
* how to add an image
Nicolle also used a Voki in her Glow Group to communicate instructions or news. Click here to find information about using the Voki website and click here to find out how to add a Voki to a Glow Group.
Impact
Click to view
The use of the Glow Group had a significant impact on the S2 class. The independent research tasks stimulated interest in the book study, developed cross-curricular learning, and encouraged pupils to support and learn from one another. Evidence of the pupils’ changing attitudes to the book study can be clearly seen in some of the comments made on the discussion board:
“I am enjoying reading “Going Solo”. When you first issued the book I had thoughts running through my head saying “I don’t think I will like this book”. I thought this because I am used to reading adventure books like “The Famous Five” and “The Enchanted Woods”, but I was totally wrong. I am really enjoying Going Solo, it has lots of information about his opinion on WW2…”
“I am enjoying “Going Solo” because it is very informative and it shows what life was like back then. … I have learned a lot of new and interesting facts while studying the novel, like Swahili language which quite impressed me…”