Ive read the posts in this forum with lots of interest! As an avid Dialogue fan I understand the need for core and additional Modules and I am happy for Dialogue to remain on the edge, but hope very much that it remains firmly on that edge? I find it quite a powerful tool and I am wondering if anyone is working on ensuring that Dialogue stays up-to-date and continues to function with future versions of Moodle?
I find Dialogue can act as a great source of empowerment for students because it is a private activity between two individuals. Tutors and administrators cannot see Dialogues, nor can they track them, thus the individual is entirely empowered and entirely responsible for this element of their learning.
As a log is kept and participants can readily
view their dialogue between themselves and other students/participants, Ive
found this to be invaluable to me as an e-tutor because I can a.) have a
private dialogue with a student when it is appropriate to do so b.) keep accurate
and tidy records of dialogues with students and return to them when
necessary and c.) actually see if a
student has opened and read the dialogue communication I have sent them (as
opposed to using email and just assuming that they received the communication).
I've also found Dialogue is a great way of using technology to implement a face to face pedagogy which asks students to pair up and have a private discussion about a particular topic, question or idea before feeding back into the larger group (in which case a Forum activity can be combined with a Dialogue activity in elearning).