{"id":5180,"date":"2016-01-19T10:43:50","date_gmt":"2016-01-19T10:43:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.plymouth.ac.uk\/asti\/?p=5180"},"modified":"2016-01-19T10:43:50","modified_gmt":"2016-01-19T10:43:50","slug":"online-discussion-forums","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.plymouth.ac.uk\/digital-education\/online-discussion-forums\/","title":{"rendered":"Online discussion forums"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Online discussion areas are widely used across all spectrums. For example, if you want to find out\u00a0how to make a kite, or remove grout haze from ceramic tiles, an internet search for these things will inevitably direct you to at least one online community and an online discussion. They have been used to good effect in education since the &#8217;90\u2019s in one form or another, and are still as valid today as a tool for engaging students and for extending discussion in the classroom.<\/p>\n<p>If you are unfamiliar with online discussions you may not have come across across some of the related terminology. Online discussions can also sometimes\u00a0be described as\u00a0Computer Mediated Conferencing (CMC) and\u00a0Asynchronous Online Discussions (AOD).\u00a0Other ways of describing online discussion areas are:\u00a0Web forums, message boards, discussion boards, discussion forums, online discussions, bulletin boards.<\/p>\n<p>There are many different tools that\u00a0provide online discussions but the structure is usually the same. The discussion has a title, and participants can either reply directly to the original posting or create a new \u201cthread\u201d. There are different ways of managing threads, depending on which software or platform you are using.<br \/>\nAs you would facilitate (or moderate) an in-class discussion, so you would with an online one. Your role as tutor would be to encourage participation, ensure that students are staying on topic, helping to keep the discussion going if it is running dry and summarising main points at the close of the discussion. Good online moderating is the key to a successful activity.\u00a0 As with face to face discussions, you will always have a mixture of\u00a0talkative, enthusiastic participants and quieter, more reticent contributors.<\/p>\n<p>The term given for people who look at online discussions but don\u2019t actively take part is \u201cLurker\u201d.\u00a0 However, in a classroom discussion, you can get students who remain passive and for varying reasons don&#8217;t want to actively participate. Encouraging lurkers to participate in an online discussion can be handled in the same way as you would in a classroom. Simply post a reply which invites the input of those who haven\u2019t yet contributed.\u00a0 However, it has been found that students who aren\u2019t keen on speaking out in a face to face discussion can often be more confident in posting a reply in an online forum. The biggest advantage of an asynchronous discussion is that it allows people to formulate a considered response. This can benefit students for whom English isn\u2019t their first language, and for less confident\u00a0students who might feel uncomfortable about contributing to a classroom discussion. (Chun, 1994, Beauvois, 1996, Sullivan &amp; Pratt, 1996)<br \/>\nOnline discussions aren\u2019t perfect, there are disadvantages and issues to consider. A list of advantages and disadvantages can be found in this article. However, as long as you are aware of the pitfalls and ensure that the discussions are moderated well, they can be a valuable asset.<\/p>\n<h2>Benefits of using online discussions:<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Accessible 24\/7 allowing flexibility for students.\u00a0 For example, if the discussion is available for 2 weeks, the students have time to think about and post a considered response<\/li>\n<li>Since a\u00a0discussion can remain\u00a0in place for as long as the moderator chooses to make\u00a0it available, this ensures that students can dip in and out of different discussion threads and reply to those they wish to contribute to.<\/li>\n<li>Tutors\u00a0can post one reply rather than many, if several students have the same question\/issue.<\/li>\n<li>The relative anonymity of posting contributions to an online discussion encourages the more introverted\u00a0students to take part in the discussion, and helps those\u00a0who don\u2019t feel confident speaking out in class (Beauvois, 1996, Chun, 1994).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Drawbacks of using online discussions:<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The flexible nature of online discussions\u00a0and their ongoing availability can cause students to postpone\u00a0logging in to look at the discussion. \u00a0The onus is on the student to be self-directed and disciplined to log in and take part.<\/li>\n<li>The permanence of the forum can be off-putting to some who may be\u00a0concerned about their postings being visible\u00a0for a period of time.<\/li>\n<li>The relative anonymity of the discussion forum can be a disadvantage to some, as the text only nature doesn\u2019t allow for social interactivity with facial gestures and body language.\u00a0 Participants worry that their comments may be misconstrued.<\/li>\n<li>If the discussion is allowed to become too unwieldy with too many tangential threads, it can become confusing and difficult to navigate.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>It is interesting to note that some of the advantages also become drawbacks. However, if an online discussion is moderated effectively, most of these issues can be overcome.<\/p>\n<h2>References:<\/h2>\n<p>Chun, D. (1994). Using computer networking to facilitate the acquisition of interactive competence.\u00a0<em>System<\/em>\u00a022: 17\u201331.<\/p>\n<p>Beauvois, M.H. (1998). Write to speak: The effects of electronic communication on the oral achievement of fourth-semester French students. In J.A. Muyskens, ed.,\u00a0<em>New Ways of Learning and Teaching: Focus on Technology and Foreign Language Education<\/em>, pp. 93\u2013116. Boston: Heinle &amp; Heinle.<\/p>\n<p>Sullivan, N. &amp; Pratt, E. (1996). A comparative study of two ESL writing environments: A computer-assisted classroom and a traditional oral classroom.\u00a0<em>System<\/em>\u00a024(4): 491\u2013501.<\/p>\n<h2>Further reading:<\/h2>\n<p><em>Building Online Learning Communities: Effective Strategies for the Virtual Classroom. <\/em>\u00a0Rena M. Palloff &amp; Keith Pratt. (2007)<\/p>\n<p>(An excellent guide from experienced online tutors with detailed information about managing online activities including online discussion).<\/p>\n<p><em>The Virtual Student: A profile and guide to working with online learners.<\/em>\u00a0 Rena M. Palloff &amp; Keith Pratt. ( 2003)<\/p>\n<p>(This book concentrates on the student perspective and offers suggestions on how to manage online activities which will maximise engagement).<\/p>\n<p><em>e-tivities: The key to online learning.<\/em>\u00a0 Gilly Salmon (2002)<\/p>\n<p>(A useful resource which looks at creating effective online learning exercises and provides a useful scaffold for anyone new to online teaching and learning).<\/p>\n<p><em>e-moderating: the key to teaching and learning online<\/em>.\u00a0 Gilly Salmon (2000)<\/p>\n<p>(Provides ideas and examples for creating successful online teaching and learning resources).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Online discussion areas are widely used across all spectrums. For example, if you want to find out\u00a0how to make a kite, or remove grout haze from ceramic tiles, an internet search for these things will inevitably direct you to at least one online community and an online discussion. They have been used to good effect [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":49,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[5,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5180","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blended-learning","category-pedagogy-teaching"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pdVSkC-1ly","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.plymouth.ac.uk\/digital-education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5180","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.plymouth.ac.uk\/digital-education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.plymouth.ac.uk\/digital-education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.plymouth.ac.uk\/digital-education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/49"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.plymouth.ac.uk\/digital-education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5180"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.plymouth.ac.uk\/digital-education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5180\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.plymouth.ac.uk\/digital-education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5180"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.plymouth.ac.uk\/digital-education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5180"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.plymouth.ac.uk\/digital-education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5180"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}