- What role or purpose do discussion forums serve in the online classroom and are they effective?
- How do discussion forums function as a teaching tool?
- How could they be used effectively and ineffectively? Furthermore, what are some best practices for facilitating forums online?
Having completed my second MS degree online, I'm very familiar with online discussion forums. Must say that some were much more effective than others and only wish my instructors had the information provided by TeacherStream. The suggestions were sound strategies that could enhance the online experience for students.
The discussion forums that were of most value to meet introduced the class to relevant and specific prompts that required us to reassess what we had learned. It was always frustrating to have to find time to respond to shallow prompts that were obviously posted simply to be posted. A properly designed discussion forum allowed participants to think critically about those topics of importance to our career fields. My favorite was an ongoing debate about Principal leadership styles where many of the younger participants would adhere to the notion of team consensus and we grizzled veterans held to the view that leaders lead. Given the fact that they are going to eventually get fired, might as well go down fighting for something you believe in.
One online class provided by Valdosta State included a discussion forum where participants could add to a list of potential scholarships for students. This created a resource that was invaluable to our assisting students. Each counselor posted scholarship sites and the result was an impressive list that was added to my district's website. Then there are times when the instructor is so busy that a prompt must be posted quickly to save the day. These discussion forums turned out the be vague and useless. No time was devoted to ensure the forum served some educational purpose or advanced knowledge.
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