• Not being thorough.

“Many students simply do not address the writing prompt thoroughly in their post. Sometimes a prompt will require that a student addresses two to three points, but students don’t do that,” said Anne Adcock, Associate Professor and the Bachelor Program Director at the Carver School of Social Work at Campbellsville University.  “Responses also are sometimes written in a way that does not reflect that they have read the original post well. The response does not continue the discussion. Responses often appear rushed and unplanned. Students should put effort into their posts and responses in a way that adds to the learning of both them and their classmates.”

• Getting too personal.

Although some of the topics covered in a class may remind students of personal experiences, an online discussion board is not the appropriate forum to discuss their problems or ask for advice on issues not related to the course. Students should limit their conversation to the relevant topics and avoid discussing their personal lives in too much detail.

• Making posts too long.

“Unless there is a word count required by the instructor, try to develop shorter posts, much shorter than a screen-worth of information,” David L. Stoloff, Professor in the Education Department at Eastern Connecticut State University who teaches online courses in the Educational Technology master's program,  said. “Please be polite and supportive, commenting and connecting the ideas of others into new learning for oneself and the community.”

• Procrastination.

Waiting until the last minute to make a required post can decrease the quality of the conversation about a subject. Posting earlier allows other students to respond to a post and engage in debates that help everyone in the class get the most out of the conversation.

• Not paying attention.

“One mistake students make is not doing the reading or assignment in advance. I once had a student who did not read an assigned case study about Sonoco, a packaging company, and made a post about Sunoco, a gasoline company,” said Mitchell Langbert, Associate Professor at Brooklyn College who teaches undergraduate human resources and management courses online. “Another mistake is not reading other students’ posts and responding to points already made. Instead, many students repeat points already made without acknowledging that they are repeating the same ideas. Naturally, these don’t get full credit.”