Discussions

The Power of BeachBoard Discussions

The best way to promote learning and interactivity online is to create an online learning community.  A sense of community encourages students to learn as much from each other as the instructor and the presented material. Here are some suggestions for developing a community in your online classroom:

·         Provide a positive role model for your students. If you post thought-provoking questions and fair comments, it will be natural for your students to follow suit. Provide honest feedback on students’ postings.

·         Establish your presence and provide guidance. Let students know what to expect of you  - how often you will check and respond to messages.

·         Communicate your expectations in concrete terms. Provide written guidelines for online communication (message length, content, number of posts), agendas, and objectives for each discussion activity. 

·         Start discussions and offer structure, yet allow room for students to talk to each other rather than read an instructor-dominated “lecture.”

·         Just as you do in the classroom, remember that students will have different communication styles (dominant vs. passive/shy) or special needs (poor writing skills, non-native language issues). For example, conversation dominators may need to be reeled in, while shy students may need encouragement to participate and support to elaborate on their ideas.

·         Create a social area within the course.  Students don’t have the opportunity for after class chats in the hallways, so provide a discussion forum that is strictly for fun - a virtual student lounge.

·         Become a cheerleader for your students. Give them the encouragement and feedback they need to delve deeper into the critical-thinking process. 

 

There are also some management issues that arise when using a discussion board.

·         Monitor the activity level of your discussions topics frequently. Students will lose interest if they aren't getting responses. They need your direction and encouragement as the subject-matter expert.

·         To keep the Discussion area focused it is useful to close or archive topics that are no longer active. This streamlines the Discussion area, making it easier for you and your students to access active discussion topics.