This doesn't surprise me! I think only teachers find reflective report important, or perhaps students once out of the course or when finished with their program and then they reflect upon the importance of reflection!

This is an important quote to remind us that the materials do not make a course. The best materials won't matter if there is no engagement and social presence of all course participants (i.e. students and instructor).

This is the company that created Blackboard.

This is a good list of the activities that we can strive to include in our classes.

Yes! This seems to be the main take-away of this article.

This is interesting! I make the team work in my St. Mary's course optional. Maybe I should make some mandatory group or collaborative activities/exercises.But the next sentence includes discussion forums within those collaborative activities, and since the course has them weekly, maybe I'm good. Something to consider.

I'd say then that although these active learning assignments "may" serve the secondary purpose of developing social presence, they are fundamental to increasing student engagement and satisfaction since if I remember correctly from another reading we had in the course, higher social presence corresponds to higher engagement in and satisfaction with the course.

This surprises me, given how easy it is to disappear in an online course, more than in a F2F course where a teacher can stop a student while leaving to ask a question, inquire about homework, and the student can't just ignore the teacher, unlike how he/she could ignore an email or message.

Well that is a bit disappointing. I was hoping to find the magic bullet in this article that would guarantee student engagement!

Role of Government in Private Employment Relationships For this discussion consider the following questions and create your initial post: • Do you think that the state government and the IRS should audit employee/IC matters? • If an individual is OK with being an Independent Contractor, even if under the law, he is an employee, does it matter? • Is this an example of the state interfering too much in private relationships between parties? • What is your role in HR in enforcing these laws? Your initial discussion board post must use at least one resource as support. This resource may be your textbook, required readings for the course, or outside research. Use APA citation format to properly credit your supporting material. There is no minimum word limit for the post, but you should be sure that you completely and thoroughly respond to all the questions in the post. You should also include a descriptive subject line in this initial post. • Post on time. It is noted when the postings (initial and follow-up) are made and late postings are noted when considering grades.<br> • Be active during the week. If all of your postings are made on one day (like Sunday evening for follow-up posts), you will not receive the same grade as someone who is active in the forums during the week and contributes regularly to the discussions. The forums are only as good as you make them, and regular, thoughtful contributions are necessary to get the most out of them. • Follow-up posts are more than just agreeing or adding your opinion. Examine and analyze what your classmates are saying and elaborate on that. Adding examples is helpful, but the best posts are those that add to the discussion with further analysis or elaboration. • Challenge and question (of course respectfully, which I don't doubt that everyone will do). We all have different views and opinions, and often can learn a lot from those who see the world differently than we do. Disagree with what other say too. Those type of posts can lead to very interesting discussion. More than just the posts that say "I agree." • You are encouraged to participate fully in the discussion forums throughout the week, posting early and often. There is no minimum number of response posts that you must post. Research has shown that with adult learners such as you in a graduate level course, requirements such as posting two responses actually leads to less interaction and communication than if no requirements of a minimum number of posts are in place. If you have any questions about this policy, please contact me so we can discuss it to ensure you feel confident about your coursework and your participation. • The initial post is due by 11:59 pm on Wednesday each week; the response posts for that week are due by 11:59 pm on Sunday of each week. • Feel free to return to past weeks if you were unable to comment on as many posts as you would have liked, or if you simply have some additional time and want to refer back to what was discussed. Respond to your classmates as well. • We all juggle many different roles and jobs, beyond that of student. Thus, some weeks you may be able to check the forum and respond to your classmates on a daily basis, while other weeks you might have less time available and only check the forum twice during the week. At the end of the course, your overall participation (including not only the number of posts but also the quality of them) will be considered when awarding a grade. If you have any questions about this policy, please contact me so we can discuss it to ensure you feel confident about your coursework and your participation.