Tips For Running A Discussion Board

Discussion boards are excellent ways of fostering peer-to-peer learning. The optional rubrics and resources below are simply meant to make your life easier. You are not required to use them. You absolutely may edit, adapt, or build on them.

Setting Clear Expectations

When online is the only option for students to share their ideas and questions with one another, it’s important to set clear expectations for posting. Here’s an example: “Please post your first response by 10PM on Tuesday night. The post must be at least 250 words in length and reference the readings. Be sure to use MLA format for your citations. You must respond to three of your classmates by Friday 10PM. Follow-up posts must be substantive (at least 100 words) and move the discussion forward. Simply saying, “I agree”, etc. will not earn credit.”

Resource: Discussion Board DOs and DON’Ts for Students

Do think before you post. Complete the reading or preparation work before you write.

Do post your response early to give your classmates more time to reply. Check back later to see what comments have been added.

Do explain your opinion and use examples to help others understand your points.

Do post something that furthers the discussion and shows depth of thought. The best part of a discussion board is that you get lots of think time before you post. Use it.

Do reply to several of your classmates’ posts, adding examples or asking questions.

Do remember that it is harder to tell when something is a joke online. Use humor

sparingly.

Don’t agree with everything you read. It makes for a really boring conversation. Politely disagree when you have a difference of opinion.

Don’t reply to the same people each time. Try to bring in other voices.

Don’t get personal. Focus your criticism on ideas and arguments, not on your classmates.

Don’t bring the outside in. No inside jokes, references to people who aren’t in the conversation, or comments you wouldn’t say face-to-face

Top Ten Discussion Board DOs and DON’Ts for Students. From Power Up: Making the Shift to 1:1 Teaching and Learning (Neebe & Roberts, 2015). Reprinted with permission.

Tips for Discussion Board Prompts

Discussion board prompts are just like the prompts you use to start discussions in your class. You just need to adjust them a bit since you will not all be in the same room answering these orally. If you need a bit of assistance with this, here are some things to consider:

• Think about the learning you want students to gain from the discussion.

• What do you want to see in the responses? Convergent ideas (how, what, why), Divergent ideas (predict, if...then), Evaluative ideas (opinion, defend, what if)?

• Since you want to avoid yes and no responses, how might you frame the question in such a way that students have to think before posting and not just answer off the top of their heads?

• Remember, just like in a face-to-face class, sometimes questions just flop. Don’t give up; just adjust. Feel free to post a response that clarifies what you are looking for, gives more instruction, or poses a completely new question.

• Once you launch a discussion board, monitor it as you would in a face-to-face class. Avoid jumping in too soon or over-responding. You don’t have to respond to every post. Remember you set it up to where they have to respond to their classmates. Allow the exchanges to take place.

• When responding, be sure to model how you want students to respond. Consider including links to support your statements, quotes (cite them), restating a portion of the post you are responding to, and using the name of the student(s) to whom you are responding.

from Sacred Heart Preparatory in Atherton, CA