Sunday, February 23, 2014

Communicate 4.2.3 Discussions

Discussions 

What role or purpose do discussion forums serve in the online classroom and are they effective?

Discussion forums are essential aspects of the online classroom.  There can be a discussion forum for frequently asked questions for interactions between students and the instructor. This saves the instructor time in answering numerous emails with the same questions. Discussion forums can serve the purpose of a class discussion since students are able to view the opinions of others on a topic or on specific readings. This causes students to think more deeply about the topic and also to refine their own opinions and ideas about the topic.


How do discussion forums function as a teaching tool?

Discussion forums can teach students about new topics by assigning readings that go along with a topic and asking the students to come up with an opinion. They can teach students about expressing themselves in the written word and about debating topics. Students can hear points or counterpoints to their own arguments causing them to refine or improve their own arguments 


How could they be used effectively and ineffectively? Furthermore, what are some best practices for facilitating forums online?

Discussions can be ineffective when the question or prompt has a correct answer. If students have to respond to a question with a right or wrong answer they all end up writing the same or very similar things. There is not much to comment on and it never turns into a conversation or a debate. Students post should be one that encourage engagement. Discussions should also not ask students to summarize something.

Discussions can be effective when they are engaging for students. If done correctly, students will respond to more posts than they are required to and will be interested in reading all the posts. Instructors should provide consistent feedback during the discussion and should respond to every student's initial post. The instructor should model appropriate behavior in a discussion and challenge students to think deeper and expand their knowledge. Even though the instructor should not dominate the discussion, she should make her presence known and give meaningful and constructive feedback to each student. It should be clear to students that the instructor is following the discussion and reading every post. 

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