Reflective discussions in teacher training: A comparison between online and offline discussions of course literature in a class of pre-service teachers

Abstract

This paper compares outcomes of student teachers' use of oral classroom and written online forum discussions of course literature, with the aim of examining how each mode facilitates reflective practice. Data were collected from a class of 11 participating student teachers. Oral discussions were video-recorded and written online discussions were saved as Word files. Clinchy's levels of knowing were used to determine the depth of the reflections and qualitative analyses inspired by Harasim were carried out as a complement. Findings indicate that on a group level the performance according to the levels of reflective thinking was the same. Both modes have advantages and drawbacks, but it is clear that there should be a variety of modes to provide individual student teachers with better possibilities of developing their reflections. Further explorations of the interaction between modal preference and modal performance, as well as the implications for online peer collaboration, are discussed.

How online education affects Chinese primary school students under COVID-19?

“…Compared online education with offline education, they have many distinctions and different impacts for students in China. In terms of how these two teaching models are 'executed', the main distinction is that online oral discussion is 'interactional', which means that students and teachers could interact in the online classes [5], while offline education seems to be more authoritarian. Offline education is also called 'traditional classrooms', which represents the teaching patterns before the population of internet [6].…”

Students’ learning experiences in the Communication Program from a university in the Philippines

“…Further, Enochsson [12] determined the differences between the outcomes of the oral classroom and written online discussion forums of 13 student teachers and examined how these discussions facilitate reflective practice. Using the video-recorded oral and written online discussions, the findings showed no differences between the two types of discussion in the group, but differences were evident at the individual level.…”

“…The results suggest that teachers should teach outside the box. As pointed out by Enochsson [12], the digital world has many possibilities to offer in helping the student teachers become reflective practitioners.…”

Identifying Learners’ Interaction Patterns in an Online Learning Community

“…The third is to provide some implications by exploring the co-reflection patterns of learners in terms of cognition, emotion, behavior, etc. [ 5 , 10 , 11 ].…”

“…Several researchers have discussed the behavioral patterns implied in students’ collaborative discourse [ 5 , 11 ]. For example, Liu et al analyzed the level and the evolution of teachers’ reflective thinking in online collaborative learning activities [ 5 ].…”