The forum activity module enables participants to have asynchronous discussions i.e. discussions that take place over an extended period of time. The forum activity allows students and instructors to exchange ideas by posting comments as part of a 'thread.' Files such as images and media may be included in forum posts. The instructor can choose to grade and/or rate forum posts. Ratings can be aggregated to form a final grade which is recorded in the gradebook, or whole forum grading allows instructors to assess student forum postings from an intuitive grading interface that collects all of each student’s postings on one page. The grade is also available to record to the gradebook.
Online or face-to-face, in groups or as a full class, discussion is one of the key tools instructors have to determine how well and clearly students have understood course concepts. It also provides a fertile ground for testing ideas, filling in gaps, and expanding the conversation and topic to address expressed needs and interest of the learners.
For face-to-face facilitation, developers can identify a series of possible questions to pose to the class that align with the course content.
NOTE: While courses that are developed for both face-to-face and IUOnline mastershell delivery need to have content that is consistent, it is likely not possible to use the same (or at least all of the same) discussion points online that are used in class. A face-to-face class can include numerous group activities and discussions. However, since online discussions require each person to post and then all to post at least two replies, there is a danger in exhausting students – and instructors – with too many discussion topics. Best practices for online discussion boards suggest limiting substantive discussion boards to two a week.
Discussions online, since they are developed and posted as part of the master, need to strike a balance between covering key content areas and being flexible enough and provocative enough to engage learners in a protracted discussion. Case studies, multi-part questions, personal application of content (real life examples) and the like often make for the best approach. Discussion Board best practices and grading criteria are located in both the Faculty and Student Hubs under Academic Resources. Students should be regularly encouraged to view this content.
Refer to the Discussion Board Best Practices in the Immaculata Faculty Resource Center, in particular the Discussion Board Policy
Typically, for online courses, a discussion board, also known as a forum, takes the place of classroom group activities/discussions. These asynchronous conversations (either written, audio or video recordings) promote student engagement and foster greater understanding of the course material between peers.
Generally, the first discussion forum students will participate in for each course is the Introductory Discussion which reads as follows:
Please take a moment to introduce yourself, share some information about your education goals, career, family or anything you would like the class to know about you. In addition, please read the course description located under the welcome banner for the course. Please share with your peers and instructor your interest and general experience in this field of study. What do you bring to the course? What would you like to learn more about?
Students and instructors may choose to reply to this initial post, but are encouraged to read this submission as a launching point for future course discussions.
Files such as images and media maybe included in forum posts. The teacher can choose to grade and/or rate forum posts. Ratings can be aggregated to form a final grade which is recorded in the gradebook.
Be Thorough.....this should be the most in-depth and substantive response to the prompt provided within your course. Typically, unless directed otherwise, this is written in paragraph form responding to the prompt in detail displaying your understanding of the material by sharing examples, connecting to experiences.
Be Factual.....students are required to properly cite at least one reference from your course materials or external sources to support your writing in APA format.
Be Creative.....this should include consulting outside sources, sharing articles, multi-media and images to enhance your message.
Be Engaging.......remember to treat discussion boards as a conversation rather than just another assignment. Consider ending prompt by providing 2-3 open-ended questions to prompt peer replies.
Be Responsive......these responses, though less in-depth than your initial post, should still be thought provoking and conversational demonstrating comprehension of the original post content while furthering the virtual classroom discussion.
Be Factual...these response are reasoned and factual, if external sources are used, adhere to APA format.
Be Consistent.....ensure the content of your replies is grounded in the course materials and objectives for this unit.
Discussion encourages independent thinking and listening. The student identifies and assesses problems, forms reasoned interpretations and reaches/tests conclusions. Therefore, the alternating of questions, listening and response is conducted to carry out critical/intelligent thinking (necessary for cognitive development).
Frees students from undue deference to others’ viewpoints. The student:
gathers and presents data
sifts through evidence
thinks about structure/framework for evidence
formulates fruitful questions
forms hypotheses
tests those hypotheses, leading to more data gathering
Attending to what is said – and how it is said. It require simultaneous focusing on several different channels and is focused, critical, comprehensive, strategic and requires much energy (to absorb, organize and store information). Listening attends to:
Substantive content
Tone of speaker’s voice (while tone may be discernable online, it is less evident in written form)
The perspective from which she/he speaks
The degree of authenticity or confidence projected or invoked
The speaker’s emotional attachment to ideas
In addition, listening requires a continuous stream of strategic decisions (and a lot of energy) to:
Decide whether to concentrate on hearing the next words or process the last message
Reflect on ideas being communicated
Evaluate their validity
Derive implications from them
Or, to pursue some other thought they inspire