When designing a discussion board activity, it isimportant to remember that discussions are not exams andthe correctness of each person’s response is not the point.The point of discussion should be conversation, analysis,debate, illustration, application, synthesis, and reflection.

One of the most promising tools foractive learning in the asynchronous online course is thediscussion board. A well-designed and well-facilitateddiscussion board can be a rich space for active learning

Collison, Elbaum, Haavind, and Tinker (2000) notethat discussion boards, in particular, can “extend reflectiontime” and offer the “opportunity to compose thoughtful,probing contributions” (p. 2)

sk students to complete an assignment in advance that helps them understand and articulate their own views, as well as others they have heard. Such pre-discussion homework can help them reflect on those views, understand potential reasons behind them, and connect them to disciplinary content in the course. Such activities let them do some more logical thinking in advance, before any emotional barriers get thrown up during a heated discussion.

Earning Participation Points for Weekly DiscussionsOnline discussions can be one of the richest elements of your online experience.Electronic discussions offer a unique opportunity to be “heard.” You don’t needto raise your hand and wait to be called on. You can think carefully about whatyou want to say and look it over before you post it. You can consider thecontributions of your peers more thoughtfully and go back to comments againwhen a second reading offers clarification and a deeper understanding.I value your contributions to our discussions. You have a great deal to offer andto learn from one another. You may surprise yourself with your insights,creativity and wisdom about teaching and learning through these discussions.However, one of the more difficult aspects of these discussions for me isevaluating your participation. So I’m going to give you that responsibility.Here’s how it works

You can emphasize the importance of discussion board contributions byspotlighting the content of the board in an assignment. Have students draw from the discussion board as a pool ofreferences for an assignment – one that enforces skills for summary, synthesis, and analysis for instance –incorporating (and citing!) their peers’ comments

aculty members find that it is worthwhile taking some time to teachthe students how to listen to others, how to paraphrase, how to involveother members of the group. Students need to understand that they sharethe responsibility for making the discussion a worthwhile experience. This isa new idea for most of them

Ask morequestions than you give answers, and put the bulk of your energy into drawing out the quiet students and encouragingmore of the kind of participation you want to see.

Structure discussions in advance, and connect the discussions to your courseobjectives. Though you’ll want to leave areas of the board open forunstructured conversation, try creating sequenced threads that map to coursetopics, making it clear to students what the relationship of the discussion is tothose outcomes

you can manage your workload more effectivelyby:

It’s important tomanage the time that you and other participants spend interacting,and to make sure that the interactions on the board are enrichingand relevant