Suggestion regarding Intro's and Welcoming

[MuskieBait]

(05-19-2015 03:48 PM)GailBait Wrote:  

(05-19-2015 02:59 PM)OldTimer Wrote:  It definitely is a perspective.

And it appears clear that definitions of "nurturing" vary as widely, perhaps more, as opinions do............... smile.

Cheers,

OldTimer

I'm just new here and have tried to contribute.

I know probably most people will never say anything. Like at other forums on other interests I have. Works the same in day to day life or at work.

But I don't think lumping all those silent together in a negative accusing way will promote much other than increased lack of participation.

Positive vibes are a better way I think.

I'm finishing my teacher's college training at the moment...and you can ask any teacher what nurturing means.

It doesn't mean handing out info and holding a student's hand every step of the way. It means giving them just enough that students can make some mistakes to learn on their own. It means pushing students to question and explore. It means getting students involved and engaged at every step possible. That's how education works...

Nurturing also means pointing out mistakes and shortcoming so students receive proper feedback. Without proper feedback, students do not know where they have made mistakes and they do not know how they can improve. Pointing out shortcomings isn't anti-nurturing. It is very nurturing. You don't nurture students by letting them get away with things...that's not nurturing...that's called spoiling...like letting kids get away with not handing in assignments, or not letting you know in advance that they have an obligation which prevented them from writing a test on time. It doesn't teach kids responsibility.

Similarly, forum members should have a responsibility to participate and to become part of a community...

As to Gail, signing up on a forum just to lurk in the background is also very negative and toxic to the forum. In fact, that's how many forums die because the lack of participation breeds even less participation when no one is replying to posts, no one is sharing information, and no one is interacting. If you think I'm lumping people, you can see how many users are registered with OSF...and how many are actually actively participating regularly (I would even consider one monthly post as regular participation...I'm not asking for daily chime in). I can guarantee you that 90% of accounts are what I consider inactive (less than 1 contribution a month). How's that for lumping?

None of the things I've said are negative. I'm saying it just the way it is. None of my three points are incorrect...nor are they exaggerated. Yes, there is a rhetorical question at the end of each point...and yes, there may even be a bit of sarcasm to it. But none of it was negative.

Just to clarify, the "reasons" I discussed above were "reasons" given before (not be me) to explain why participation is low. Personally, I do not believe these are the true reasons. These reasons, on their own, are negative enough. We, as a community, welcome everyone. All I ever want to do is to have members participate. If their reports are short, even just a few words, or if their English were poor, I don't like to make that as an inhibitor against participation. As a community, should we not encourage these members to get involved? Isn't that the positive vibe the community wants? Using these "reasons" (I call them excuses) to segregate people is negative. Pointing out these "reasons" is negative in my mind.

As a teacher, I don't go around labeling students as ESL, ADHD, dyslexic...etc. We know that certain students require Individualized Education Plans, but we don't point it out everyday. We make accommodations, but we don't take excuses...especially for assignments, tests and other student assessments. We design activities and learning opportunities that cater to these student, but we don't simply accept their non-participation because they have "reasons". We encourage them to learn. This is what my discussion was about. A regimented participation "contract", just like a weekly journal for ESL students, to help people learn and participate. You will only learn if you are engaged. If you take a backseat, you are not engaged. If fishing forum members lurk in the background, then they are merely reaping the benefits from others and not contributing at all. What have they learned to grow in their own fishing?

I've been visiting online fishing forums ever since they were a concept. I've seen a lot of forums come and go...even some of the best ones at the time. At the end, they all die because people stop participating on the forum.