- What role or purpose do discussion forums serve in the online classroom and are they effective?
I must admit when I was doing my Master's
program online I hated the discussions. As a student (even though I was a
teacher) I did not see the value or purpose of it - it was just 'something' I
had to do - so I did it. As an online teacher I found the value of discussions.
Often in an online environment stunts can feel alone and isolated -
and discussions offer the opportunity interact and get to know students in
an asynchronous way. Discussions offer a chance for students to inert
act with other students. It is a safe place for students to
express opinions, ask questions, and to start fitting the pieces of
the learning together.
- How do discussion forums function as a teaching tool?
Discussions forums can be used several ways:
l) Extend the learning environment
2) Engage students and preparing them to have them get familiar with new topics
3) Online discussions can reach different types of leaners. It can give introverted thinks time to create a response and extraverted thinkers time to collect thoughts before they post.
4) Students can reflect not only on their own learning and understanding, but other students as well.
5) Discussion forums can also be where instructors bring in outside resources to facilitate learning - articles, videos. etc
- How could they be used effectively and ineffectively? Furthermore, what are some best practices for facilitating forums online?
While there
are benefits to discussions in an online environment, but there was
they can be ineffective. To be effective, there needs to a variety
of activities - "pre-assessments, What if questions, article
reviews, to name a few." Instructors need to be active in
the discussion board, monitoring, responding, and encouraging student
participation. Ineffective discussions boards happen when there is no
interaction between students, when the posts do not happen within a
specific time, when the discussions happen too frequently or too
infrequently. If students do not for follow netiquette guidelines, then participants
may not feel comfortable to step out of there comfort zone.
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