Post 393: Which is better in an online class, Discussion Forums or Zoom Live Meetings for classroom discussion?

Post 394: Which is better in an online class, Discussion Forums or Zoom Live Meetings for classroom discussion?  Can Zoom replace Discussion Forums?

No, because each has its own unique place in the online classroom. I think you need both since forums make it easy for students in different time zones and students with irregular schedules such as night shift workers to fully participate in a class and still play an active role in the discussion.

While Zoom allows real time interaction between students and teachers allowing for quicker bonding. The real time communication allows students to learn faster, get their assignments done faster and allows students and faculty to communicate and bond with each other.

Here are some advantages and disadvantages of both after working with Zoom and Forums:

Advantages of Discussion Forums

Asynchronous

Discussion Forums are asynchronous, which means students can access the forums at any time to interact with other students. The online forums allows the students the convenience of being able to participate in a classroom discussion on his/her own time.

Accountability

Teachers can easily grade and keep track of which students have participated, and which students have not participated. Teachers can see who needs help, and who doesn't need help in the forums.

Easy set up

Teachers do not need to learn how to ''schedule a meeting' and students do not need to learn how to 'join a meeting'. No need to have pass codes, or having strangers zoom bomb your discussion.  Students just log in to their DQ forums and discuss whatever is the topic for that week.

Easy to grade

Teachers can then use the embedded rubric in the LMS to grade student discussions and students get a very good idea from the rubric what they did wrong. Teachers know how long and how much each student has participated.

Advantages of Zoom

See students in real time

I get to meet students in real time and get to meet them. I get to teach a class almost like I am in a face to face class.

Body language

I get to see the body language to see if students understand what I am teaching or not. I get to see the spark of understanding in a student's face when they 'get it'! This is something that is missing in DQ.

Student Questions answered in real time

If students are having difficulty with grammar or with their paper, they can get their questions answered in real time. Students can screen share their paper with the teacher, and the teacher can go over what was wrong and teach the student in real time how to fix the paper.

Student interaction and bonding in real time

When students meet in real time, students can become that 'community of learners' which helps students bond with other students, bond and develop trust with the teacher, and motivate students to stay in the class as they develop a sense of belonging to the class, and to the teacher.

Faster Feedback turnaround time

When students can get faster feedback from the teacher in real time, the student  can then quickly go back and fix his paper. Because he sees the professor in real time, he can better understand what went wrong with his paper just like office hours with the teacher.

Office Hours

Zoom is an effective way for online teachers to have real time office hours with their students. They can help students in real time one on one just like in a face to face office hour session. Students can then get to know their professors face to face in real time. After all, humans are social beings, and we need social contact to survive.

Disadvantages of Zoom

Security issues

Students have to find the link and students have to enter a passcode to enter Zoom in order to avoid Zoom being Zoom bombed.  some students cannot find the pass code and therefore cannot access the classroom or the recording.

Zoom Bombing

Strangers can come in and ruin the learning environment, so Zoom has had to add more security making it harder for students to access the Zoom meeting, and making it more difficult for teachers to schedule a meeting and to have students access the Zoom recording.

Inconvenient Time

Many students cannot meet at the appointed Zoom time, so they feel left out  of the class activities, because they have to work during that Zoom time, and it is not possible for the teacher to adapt her schedule to the busy schedules of 25 students. Zoom Live Meetings do not have that any time feel of discussion forums.

Accountability

Even if the student watches the recording because he cannot make the meeting, how does the teacher know he has watched the whole thing? Unlike a forum, the student who watches a recording does not get to interact with other students, and does not get to bond with others. He is a more passive role than if he were in a discussion forum where he plays a more active role based on his schedule.

Zoom Fatigue

Even for the students who do attend a Zoom meeting, some Zoom particpants and Zoom hosts experience Zoom fatigue because you have to be constantly aware of how you look on camera. You always have to make sure your eyes are on that green light.

Zoom does have possibilities. I have found the older a computer program is, the better it runs because an older program has had all the bugs worked out.

I will work with Zoom some more to discover more of its advantages and disadvantages as time goes on.  I will keep you abreast of my latest developments of learning Canvas and learning Zoom.

Learning Curve

Most people had never heard of Zoom until the COVID19 pandemic when suddenly everybody was quarantined and had to work from home.  Students have to learn how to access the classroom, find the recordings, find the passcode etc...Teachers have to learn how to properly schedule a meeting, Join a meeting, start a meeting and host a meeting.  I think once you overcome this learning curve, hopefully I will see more advantages than disadvantages.

Cam Zoom replace DQ forums? No.