Harvesting what we already know about collaborative experiences and empowering groups to create collaborative guidelines Dear collaborative discussion friends, Welcome to the Collaborative Discussion Project Newsletter. In our first newsletter, we highlighted two...
Pre-program surveys Dear collaborative discussion friends, We are kicking off the new year with our first Collaborative Discussion Newsletter, highlighting a new Collaborative Discussion Toolkit activity each week. We have heard your feedback! Our open source...
Exploring What Makes a Positive Research Experience “Think of a positive learning experience you had in a research class as a teacher or student. Take a moment and jot down what it was and what made it work.” That’s how IF Fellow Jeff Prudhomme started the Faculty...
Now available for free download are the Guidebooks for Student-Facilitated Discussion in Online Courses (Student and Teacher Editions). These guidebooks offer a practical guide for students and instructors in online courses. They offer a step-by-step guide to our...
IF's public discussions routinely begin with an exploration of the concerns relating to the topic at hand. Discussants then move on to explore various conceptual possibilities for addressing those concerns. There are various schools of thought among IF...
I am currently taking a special topics course on Citizenship Learning, Participatory Democracy, and Social Change. Even before starting the course, I knew I would be able to link much of what is studied in the class to things I have learned through my involvement...
As I was digging through old posts, I would like to add my thoughts to the topic “setting up student discussions” 18 months ago. I am particularly going to recommend the website www.doodle.com for scheduling. Scheduling an event and selecting a topic is very time...
One of the things that the Interactivity Foundation does is to teach people how to think about public policy possibilities. This will sound patronizing only if you misunderstand why, what, and how we do it. I heard an interview with former Supreme Court Justice...
New participants in an Interactivity Foundation discussion project often wonder how to act when taking part in the discussion. Often when people hear that we’ll be engaged in thoughtful civic discussion, they think of this in terms of “debate” or “argument.” With...
IF’s mission is to “promote and enhance democratic discussion.” Not just any discussion, but democratic discussion. IF’s facilitators have a significant role to play in achieving this core aspect of IF’s mission—both before and during public discussions. Before...