Managing Online Discussions
What is an online discussion, and why might you want to use one in your teaching?
An online discussion allows participants to post their comments via a Discussion Board, an online tool that allows interaction between students, or faculty and students, outside of class time from any Internet-enabled computer. Discussions may be initiated by the instructor as a class-related activity, or by the students as either an assigned or informal activity.
There are a good number of reasons why you would want to use an online discussion as a class-related activity. For example, you may want to continue a discussion started in class, pursue topics in more depth, perhaps making use of outside resources or draw otherwise quiet students into the discussion. Students can use the discussion board for clarification of any class-related issues, or begin discussions on topics of their own choosing.
