Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - RE: Suggestions for a better model of student use of USA-Africa Dialogue posts (no offence intended, pls)

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Toyin Falola

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Oct 11, 2019, 8:20:37 AM10/11/19
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Dear all:

You have offered excellent feedback and comments, which the Instructors and PhD student need.

It is an experiment with a Tier 1 research school and a major public library to see how American students can be engaged/interested in African affairs. I agreed to assist.

The procedure will be refined in another trial run next semester with a different approach.

Meanwhile, there is no more volume, only 10 students are left in our tracking.

 

TF

 

Toyin Falola

Department of History

The University of Texas at Austin

104 Inner Campus Drive

Austin, TX 78712-0220, USA

 

 

From: dialogue <usaafric...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of "Abidogun, Jamaine M" <Jamaine...@MissouriState.edu>
Reply-To: dialogue <usaafric...@googlegroups.com>
Date: Friday, October 11, 2019 at 6:44 AM
To: dialogue <usaafric...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - RE: Suggestions for a better model of student use of USA-Africa Dialogue posts (no offence intended, pls)

 

I agree.  I realize that there is a need to educate and respect that; but I do not use this forum for students because this forum is for peer discussions (at least for the past two and half decades that I have participated).  Students need consistent and structured feedback within a context that is designed for their learning experience. As I read through these many recent posts; as an instructor, I can clearly see the purpose is to have each student find relevant articles and post a summary with the article with the expectation that others will critique/comment on it.  That is exactly what I use the Discussion option on Blackboard for with my students. Blackboard and other online classroom systems are for this very purpose; so the instructor can oversee the environment with clear cut guidelines and a knowledge that the environment will be maintained for the level that the student is at in his/her education.  I applaud the students’ efforts and find some of the articles interesting; but this is not the correct forum to substitute for one’s classroom discussions. I feel that the instructor may be unnecessarily using this forum for classroom purposes.

 

In my experience, some graduate students have and do participated in this forum; but they are honing their skills as academic professionals as part of their entry into scholarly peer debates and discussion.  Which, if any students would benefit from this forum, they are the more likely pool of candidates. 

 

With appreciation for the goal of teaching; but I too believe this is not the correct forum for general classroom student participation.

 

Sincerely,

Jamaine Abidogun

 

 

 

From: usaafric...@googlegroups.com <usaafric...@googlegroups.com> On Behalf Of Femi Kolapo
Sent: Thursday, October 10, 2019 12:03 PM
To: USAAfric...@googlegroups.com
Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Suggestions for a better model of student use of USA-Africa Dialogue posts (no offence intended, pls)

 

 

In the past couple of days, I have noticed an avalanche of posts (brief one/two-paragraph summaries of some previous USA-Africa D posts) by newer subscribers who seem to be students using USA-Africa for some elements of their course assessment.

 

While such use is commendable, a better model of use needs to be devised by their instructor such that the current situation which I feel almost equates to spamming can be avoided. Perhaps the instructor should setup a class or course wikipage for his/her students to which they can post /submit their summaries of the posts they have read on USA-African Dialogue forum. Alternatively, s/he can instruct the students to use a specific title or to include two or three keywords in their title that allow non-student users to filter out these posts since they are clearly not intended to make any contribution to the discussion. They so very quickly swam other posts in my USA-Africa folder that I must scroll up and down looking for which post is which.

 

Hoping that other users have better suggestions on how to deal with this

 

________________________

Femi  J. Kolapo

 

 

 

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Biko Agozino

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Oct 11, 2019, 11:19:14 AM10/11/19
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Please let the students participate without the OGs telling them off. I have noticed that the summaries from the students sound more objective and civil than a lot of the yabbis that the old ones fling at each other here. 

The students should go beyond summarizing to call attention to important neglected posts, they should also venture to start their own discussion topics and threads. 

The idea that this dialogue forum is only for 'peers' and not for students learning about Africa sucks.

Verily, verily, I say unto you; unless you become like these young students with the inquisitive mind to ask questions about things you do not understand fully, you are not in the republic of letters.

Biko


Ibrahim Abdullah

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Oct 11, 2019, 11:41:22 AM10/11/19
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Are these PhD students? They come across as advanced undergraduates. From Austin? 

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Harrow, Kenneth

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Oct 11, 2019, 11:41:49 AM10/11/19
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i found the number of emails overwhelming, and it was clearly a student exercise. i don't agree with biko about returning to it.
i run a hybrid course this semester, and the software has a Discussion option. one student posts in response to a prompt, and then the others respond. it's fine for a course; but the listserv is not a course add-on, and i'd prefer not have to it continued.
ken

kenneth harrow

professor emeritus

dept of english

michigan state university

517 803-8839

har...@msu.edu

From: 'Biko Agozino' via USA Africa Dialogue Series <usaafric...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Friday, October 11, 2019 11:08 AM
To: usaafric...@googlegroups.com <usaafric...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - RE: Suggestions for a better model of student use of USA-Africa Dialogue posts (no offence intended, pls)
 

kemi Seriki

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Oct 12, 2019, 8:39:07 AM10/12/19
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May be the emails are not overwhelming for others. There are many other people on this forum who may want to read other perspectives and l don’t think that they should be denied of the opportunity to do so. If something is overwhelming, there is a delete button or ignore. I believe in learning across the lines both vertically and horizontally and not just vertically. 

Thanks 

Kemi Seriki 

Sent from my iPhone

Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju

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Oct 14, 2019, 6:45:40 AM10/14/19
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I enjoy the summaries and assessments.

I subscribe to a no of listserves, so there is no way I am going to be overwhelmed by increase in mails in one listserve.

This is an informal Google group dominated by academics. It is not an academic forum.

Thus, I think we should adjust to the needs of various users as such groups undergo change.

I am proud that this group is operating at a level that students can find it a zone where such rich information, fit for expanding their minds though systematic analysis, can be found.

thanks

toyin


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