Whether you are new to online teaching or a veteran, you know that discussion boards can be the life-blood of a course. It is the online space where classroom discussion can happen, where you find out what your students are thinking, or what they know. In the last interest survey IT sent out to faculty, learning more about the best practices in forum discussions was a high priority. Today's Moodle Monday begins to address that need. The following linked resource from
Worcester Polytechnic Institute shares several instructional techniques on the effective use of discussion boards.
Improving the use of Discussion Boards
http://www.wpi.edu/Academics/ATC/Collaboratory/Idea/boards.html
Some to consider:
- "Weave student comments into your postings as a means of summarizing and subtly assessing"
- "If the discussion board supplements your in-class activities, be sure to draw a clear connection between the in-class material and the online discussions."
- "Resist the temptation to make declarative statements."
- "Provide sample postings representative of each scoring category listed in the rubric."
