My idea is a simple one. Empower a student to become a leader by allowing him to express his opinions in a friendly and educational environment. It all begins with a dialogue between a student and a professor. Uninhibited by any kind of bias towards one another or the eyes of a scrupulous audience of outsiders, like in a classroom, the two can work together to bring the student confidence in his opinion. By having a conversation with a professor, they can use the web forum as a sound board for their ideas, to develop them in more depth, and to forsee possible counter arguments. In addition, having the opportunity to talk to a wide variety of professors bribs greater breadth of perspectives.
My hopes are that, once students are comfortable with their opinions, they will have gained the confidence to voice them in class. A classroom full of confident students leads to a dynamic classroom discussion with a higher level of intellectual fervor.
All of this by creating a simple web forum. But for a successful outcome, both students and professors need to take the time to “Think Out Loud: a common reading initiative”.
Very inspirational. The web forum is a great idea to get students to interact with their professors!
Sounds like a very good idea. Is there a method to connect students and faculty/staff? I’m sure there is, but I would like to know.
Pam,
The web forum will serve as a place for discussion. Students interested in learning more about the book or discussing it with those whose POV spark their interest can connect with you via wiki posts. All topics will be visible on the wiki page for public browsing until discussion begins. Once contact is made, I am informed and I can then limit viewing of the discussion to the staff member and student. This is how we are keeping anonymity on the site until IT can get the full web forum running.