I can hold a group discussion, write on the whiteboard and send students into smaller discussion groups. I can create a Web page with course specific content, and using Symposium's Web Safari feature, direct students to access the Web page during group discussion. Students take turns working on the whiteboard just as they would in a real classroom. Scott-Curtis also uses the whiteboard to give students an opportunity to display their writing and discuss it with fellow students in real time. This is an indispensable part of a writing course.
Students learn about their own writing by looking at and analyzing other students' writing.
Group discussions are facilitated by Symposium's integrated multi-way audio conferencing. The instructor manages discussions by passing the microphone from student to student. Symposium allows them to talk through the process of planning an essay, translating those plans into draft form and revising their work. This is a critical process and it needs the quick interaction and question-asking that can only take place in real time. Students complete a basic level of instruction on their own so when they come together as a class, the conceptual level of discussions is higher and the instructor can focus on the material the group as a whole needs.