Online Forums

Online discussion boards, also called forums, allow you to replicate the dynamic of in-class discussion in an online format. However, this methodology requires some adjustment in your class preparation to be effective. Participation and interaction in forums does not occur naturally - you need to intentionally design it for each online forum! Managed well, online forums strengthen the learning community and provide a space for deep learning.

Forums provide the much needed flexibility for a global student body as there are available throughout the day and thus are complementary to the live sessions.

  1. Online forums guidelines

** Important: In some aspects, guidelines differ for the redesign of CORE subjects in IMBA/MIM and BLENDED PROGRAMS**

PURPOSE: Is the forum a core activity or a support activity?

Is the forum designed to be the CORE ACTIVITY? During this the forum discussion content equivalent to a session will be covered. Forum participation is compulsory.

Is the forum an SUPPORT ACTIVITY? The forum is complementary to a live session or another learning activity, for example to address student questions about course content or exercises. This is similar to a Q&A or FAQ, with the questions and answers being shared with the entrie class rather than in private emails. In this case, forum participation is optional.

DURATION: How long is the discussion active?

Forums express

CORE ACTIVITY: The forum discussions will take place on the day the session is scheduled, running from 9am to 6pm Madrid time.

SUPPORT ACTIVITY: The forum is a channel for students to post their questions about course content or exercises. Professors can answer them through the forum or during the live session. This type of forum can be used as an extension of professors' office hours and is well suited for FAQs or to support students with exercises they are required to prepare . Professors can determine duration for these forums are active.


For BLENDED PROGRAMS

CORE ACTIVITY: The forum discussion will take place throughout the week, typically from Monday morning until Thursday afternoon.

SUPPORT ACTIVITY: The forum is complementary to a live session or another core activity, for example to address student questions about course content or exercises. This is similar to a Q&A or FAQ, with the questions and answers being shared with the entire class rather than in private emails. Professors can determine duration for these forums are active.

PARTICIPATION in CORE ACTIVITY

Forums express

STUDENTS: Forum participation is compulsory. Students will be able to make a maximum of 2 contributions per forum with a maximum length per post of 500 characters (both the number of posts and length of each post will be limited by the software).

PROFESSORS: Professors should connect several times during the day, to moderate the conversation.


For BLENDED PROGRAMS

STUDENTS: Forum participation is compulsory. Students will be able to make a maximum of 5 contributions per forum with a maximum length per post of 500 characters (both the number of posts and length of each post will be limited by the software).

PROFESSORS: Professors should connect 3 times each day, to moderate the conversation. Make sure that you always have 3-4 discussion threads active, to encourage and facilitate student participation.

PARTICIPATION in SUPPORT ACTIVITY:

STUDENTS: Forum participation is optional. Students can participate without limitation in these support forums.

PROFESSORS: Professors can establish the rules of engagement for these forum, both in terms of how students are asked to participate and how they will be responding to the questions raised. Be explicit about the rules of engagement at the outset of the forum.

MODERATION: Tips for effective forum moderation

  • Good preparation of the forum discussion is key! Make sure that for each phase of the discussion (remember & understand, apply & analyze, evaluate & create) you have 3-4 questions prepared, so that participants have multiple entry options for the discussion and to make a valuable contribution.

  • Encourage your student to build on each others comments! Support them to create a culture of collaborative learning by responding to contributions of their class mates and challenging each others assumptions.

  • Provide guidance! Professor guidance ensures that the students stay on topic, don´t get stuck, and that the discussion progresses at the appropriate speed.

  • Challenge the students' thinking! As the discussion progresses, good moderation pushes the students to think harder and go beyond analysis.

  • Give recognition to strong contributions! This has a strong signalling effect for the students. It exemplifies the type of contributionthe professor values and thus wants to encourage. It also demonstrates that the professor is "present" in the conversation and "listening" to the students comments.

  • Wrap up the conversation! At the end of the discussion, provide the class with a summary of the most important points discussed. Ideally, the professor connects the more generic key take aways with contributions and examples that were brought up by the students.

More details for BLENDED PROGRAMS

Online Forum Sesions Blended Programs 2020

Video tutorial for BLENDED PROGRAMS

2. How to create a forum on the IE Online Campus

  1. CREATE DISCUSSION BOARD LINK

The link to the discussion board needs to be available on your course menu so that you and your students can easily find where the forum discussions take place. If its not available, take the following steps:

  1. Press the "+" icon on the top left of the course menu.

2. Select "Tool Link".

3. Click on the drop down arrow.

4. Select "Discussion Board"

5. Name the link " Forums"

6. Set the link available for users

7. Press "Submit"

Make sure that the link is available for students.

If its unavailable, use the arrow to make it visible

2. CREATE A FORUM

Once the discussion board link is available, you can start to create specific forums. To keep things manageable, it is recommended to create one forum per session. The different discussion questions are then created as threads within that forum.

  1. In the menu press "Forums"

2 . Click "Create Forum"

3. Write the name of the forum (e.g. Session 1).

4. Write the description of the forum (e.g. discussion topic for the week and preparation materials)

OPTIONAL - FORUM AVAILABILITY

Enter date and time if you wish.


OPTIONAL - FORUM SETTINGS

Allow students to subscribe to the forum.

Allow students to create new threads, attach files and reply with quote.

Allow students to rate post.



To make any changes to the optional settings you have to press "Submit "

In case you want to set the maximum limit of posts and the maximum number of characters allowed for each forum.

  1. COURSE TOOLS

  2. ADVANCED FORUM SETTINGS

  3. Tick the forums

  4. Chose the maximun number of post or messages

  5. chose the maximun number of characters per post

  6. Apply

3. CREATE THREADS TO START THE DISCUSSION

Forums discussions are made up of threads. A thread is a conversation within a forum that includes the initial post and all the replies related to it.

To start a discussion, you need to create different threads with questions or topics for discussion. It is advisable to have multiple threads active in parallel at any given time, so that students have an opportunity to add value to the conversation. Bear in mind that you have many students competing for class participation and you want to give them a chance to make meaningful contributions rather than posting "me toos" and repetitions.


  1. CREATE THREAD

  2. Subject: write the title

  3. Write the quesion/topic for discussion

  4. Attach a file in case is necesary

  5. Press submit

Important: For each topic/question you should create a different thread.

As the discussion in a thread progresses, you can include additional sub-questions on that topic in the same thread.

4. RESPOND TO CONTRIBUTIONS AND MODERATE THE DISCUSSION

Once the discussion gets going, the professor and students can reply to any contribution that has been posted on the forum. you can give recognition to strong and well thought out contributions, challenge what has been stated, ask for further elaboration or push the students thinking by adding sub-questions.

  1. Press "Reply"

2. By default the subject is the same as the parent message. You can change it if appropriate.

3. Type your answer in the message box.

4. Press "Submit"

A video tutorial on the use of discussion forums.

Blackboard site on discussion boards