As students prepare for a new season of online classes at Veritas Scholars Academy, 7th-12th graders going into an Omnibus great books course are repeatedly reminded that “Omnibus is a discussion course” in welcome videos, during orientation, and on the first day of class, well before class discussions begin.
We want our students to know that we will be in constant, consistent engagement with our texts and with one another, making expectations clear. Yet how that engagement looks in an online classroom can be very different from its brick-and-mortar equivalent.
Whenever I explain what I do for a living, the first question I get asked is, “Do you actually interact with students?” I’m happy to dispel preconceived ideas of impersonal, faceless discussion boards that people normally associate with online classes and respond that yes, we fully and personally engage with our students, who also interact with one another. All the time. And in layers (more below)!
Admittedly, the online class limits our ability to be physically present with one another, forever leaving us guessing about each classmate’s real height, but we have the opportunity to engage with each other and the text on multiple levels and in unique ways that go above and beyond the webcam’s face-to-face benefits. Those layers of engagement enrich discussion, broaden participation, and facilitate deeper analysis.
Layered Engagement with the Text
In a traditional classical discussion course, students normally have their source texts open and in front of them throughout class. In an online classical course, students still have their texts open in front of them at home for reading and annotating, but the technology we have allows us to also annotate the text together as a group. We can keep our eyes up and on each other, while at the same time examining and marking the nuances of a passage excerpted in a pod on the screen right next to the webcams. We can use drawing tools to add layers of annotation to combine each students’ own observations on the text and grapple with the implications of those together.
Layered Engagement with One Another
One of my favorite aspects of the online classroom is the technological advantage of layers of participation.
The Chatbox
How often in life do we find ourselves with a great thought, only to lose it as we are waiting our turn to talk? Students often lament this very thing during rich class discussions, but thanks to the chatbox feature of the Adobe classroom, students can add to the discussion even when they are not speaking. The conversation rolls on webcams and microphones at the same time that students are peppering the chat with additional contributions, pieces of relevant textual support, and follow-up questions for those who are actively at the mic. This allows everyone, even in a large class, to participate meaningfully at any one time, broadening and enriching discussion in layers.
Classroom Polls in Discussions
In addition, students who are naturally reticent or quiet may find it easier to contribute eloquently in print, a form of communication their peers do not get to see as much as the teacher in a traditional classroom. The chat box is a print medium, but polls bridge the gap between print and speech. At the start of class, many Omnibus teachers use polls to get initial student thoughts on the day’s discussion topics. Being able to preview the thoughts of quiet students and call on them for those previously articulated ideas welcomes them into the larger discussion with confidence and preparedness. Those same polls also allow the teacher to shape the discussion didactically, calling on students who have considered the topic from certain varied angles, thereby efficiently and effectively diving into deep consideration of the text. Polls can even make students consider the process of analysis. When we do roundtable discussions in my classes, I like to keep a multiple-choice poll at the ready with options to “add,” “qualify,” “counter,” “support,” or “provide example” to both inspire students as to how they can develop the discussion and set parameters that encourage and ensure high-quality conversation.
While all of the tools of discussion available to the Omnibus teacher in the online classroom certainly give that teacher advantages in molding discussion, they also enable the teacher to step back and hand over the critical thinking to the students. Having that chat box layer for students to add follow-up thoughts and comments, giving students the ability to annotate the text in their own hand, using polls to give parameters for how to discuss well, and even employing small group breakout room opportunities for targeted discussion all give students ownership over the conversation, while keeping the quality of engagement high and the focus on ever greater analysis and understanding.
Strategic Discussion Formatting
In a strategically designed online classroom, Socratic discussion flows naturally with students learning how to ask the right questions to keep things rolling. They interact personally and thoughtfully, responsible for engaging with each other and the text in the unique layered environment of the online platform. Yes, “Omnibus is a discussion course,” and yes, online classrooms can foster meaningful, analytical, personal discussion. Thinking critically is a layered experience, and so are our online Omnibus classes.
Would you like to explore how other subjects at Veritas Scholars Academy are taught in our online format? We invite you to book a free call with one of our Family Consultants!
