Moderating Discussions - tips |
-- a university of arizona
course on methods and approaches for studying the future
|
Moderating a discussion is a little like leading a team or chairing a committee. Except that it is done on-line.
The role of a moderator is to guide people, keep them on track, summarize threads or ideas that develop during the discussion, and to stimulate discussion when things get slow. This will be a good experience for you in later life, so read some of the references below and try your on moderating.
Our class moderating will be of short duration - one week - you should enter your initial comment on the weekend or early Monday, for the week your topic starts. On the following weekend or early the following week, summarize what happened. See guidelines below on how to accomplish this.
Guidelines
Define the discussion topic for yourself. Take time to understand what
it really is all about
Understand the setting we only have a week to discuss this rather
than a lifetime - don't make it too complicated
Enter a short description of the topic, suggest areas of initial discussion,
and provide a couple of links for further information if needed
Watch the first couple of days to see if things go well and clarify if
necessary
Toward the end of the week, if things are going slowly, add a new question
yourself, or comment on someone else's question to stimulate more activity
Summarize the discussion (do this the following weekend).
If you need help or more guidance, contact me (caldwell@ag.arizona.edu)