Using the assigned classroom readings and your own knowledge, complete the following exercise.
 
 
 Kialo Debate
 
 Step One: Sign-Up 
Each week that we have a debate, a sign-up sheet will be posted with a number of topics. There will be 6 slots per debate (3 initially Pro / 3 initially Con). As long as they are available slots, you are free to sign up on any debate topic that you want. You can take the side that you agree with, but you don’t have to. No matter which side you take, you will eventually be helping to make both sides of the argument as good as possible. 
 
(You can start this phase whenever you want but you need to sign up by Wednesday at midnight at the absolute latest)
 
 Step Two: Initial Arguments 
Once you have signed up for a discussion, you will be invited to the corresponding Kialo-Edu page for that debate. It will also be possible to join the discussion through an invitation link that will be provided. 
 
Once you’ve been added into a debate, your first step will be to start making arguments. I want everyone to work on arguing to make at least two claims that support the side that you are initially taking (Pro if you signed up as initially Pro and Con if you signed up as initially Con). You can make more if you want. Pay attention to the arguments that other people are making also. If someone has made the point that you want to make, you can provide additional evidence or argumentation backing that point up in the form of a “Pro” beneath their claim. Textual evidence from the class readings and links to outside research can both make great Pros.
 
 (You can start this phase whenever you want but you need to have completed the minimum by Friday at midnight at the absolute latest.)
 
 Step Three: Follow-Up Arguments 
Once the debate has a few claims, you can start to respond to the arguments on the other side. Read through what the folks taking the other position have posted, and write at least two “Cons” to one or more of those claims. Then write at least one “Con” to a claim on your own side. As long as you meet this minimum, you are now free to add as many claims to both sides as you want.
 
 (Once one or two people from the other side have posted claims, you can start this phase, but you need to have completed the minimum by Sunday at midnight at the absolute latest.)
 
 Step Four: Clean-up and Strengthen the Argument
 Once enough people have made follow up arguments, it’s time to make sure the overall debate is in as good of shape as possible. Take a look at all claims, not just your own, and suggest any improvements that could be made to make them as on topic, clearly stated, and well supported as possible. At this point, it doesn’t matter what side you were initially on, I want you to work together to make the best case for both sides that you can. You can use the “comments” and “chat” features in Kialo to coordinate your work.
 (You are free to do this as you go, but it should be your focus on Monday and Tuesday of the following week.)
 
 Step Five: Vote 
Use the voting feature to vote on the strength of the overall thesis of the argument as well as how well each claim supports it. The point isn’t just whether you agree with it, but how you think the case has been made. 
(This should be completed at the latest by Thursday of the following week.) 
 
Step Six: Summarize
 Write a short summary of the activity and upload it to the Debate Summary assignment. Talk about the how the group as a whole worked as well as what you in particular contributed. Did your group do as well as they could? Did you do as well as you could? What did you learn? What challenged you the most? What was the most frustrating part of the debate? Did your opinion stay the same or did you change your mind? 
(This will be due the Friday after the debate.)
 
 Your answer to these questions can be short. You should be able to answer them in two or three short paragraphs. I will use them, as well as my observations of each debate, to assign your grading for the assignment.
 
 Grading
 
 First, let me be clear: the purpose of this assignment is not to “win” the debate. The purpose of the assignment is to make the best argument that you can for both sides. Additionally, you are not being graded in competition with your classmates. It is possible for everyone to do well on an assignment, and it is possible for everyone to do poorly. Here’s how points will be assigned. Here’s how I will assign a score.
 
 Each debate will be out of 30 points: 15 for the Process and 15 for the Final Product.
 
 Process: 15 points will be assigned based on the debate process. You will receive 10 points if you complete the bare minimum required. However, if someone detracted from the group’s success or wasn’t a good citizen, I do reserve the right to award them less than that. In assigning the remaining 5 points, I will consider the following questions. Did you interact respectfully with your fellow participants? Did you show a good faith effort to improve both sides of the argument? Did you play a leadership role in the success of the debate?
 
 Final Product: 15 points will be assigned based on the final content and form of the whole debate. 7 of those points will be for content. Did you and your classmates correctly identify and explain the relevant positions? Did you use classroom material when it was appropriate, and did you correctly convey what that material meant. 6 of those points will be for clarity and structure. Did you and your classmates articulate the whole argument in a clear way? Were individual claims clear and concise? Did you and your classmates organize the overall tree in a way that made sense? The final 2 points will be for grammar, style and mechanics.
 
 Note that with the final product points, points will generally be assigned to the whole group. However, if one or more members showed particular leadership, and contributed to the content I may grade them more highly (thus, even if a particular group doesn’t meet the expectations of the assignment, it is still possible for you to get full credit if you did everything you could do make the group successful). By the same token, if one or more members created particular obstacles to the group (e.g. initial claims that were misrepresented the material, sloppy grammar and mechanics, unclear claims that the group needed to spend time fixing), I reserve the right to lower their grade relative to the rest of the group.

L’ensemble de ces activités ne peuvent pas se dérouler exclusivement en classe-virtuelle, il faut largement diversifier et outiller le dispositif de formation à distance pour qu’il soit efficace et pérenne