Communicate 4.2.3 Discussions

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In the online classrooms, discussion forums serve a very important purpose.  They are not only a place for students to engage with one another about a topic of study, but also a place for teachers to evaluate student understanding.  In my own experience taking online courses as part of my gifted endorsement, I found the discussion forum to be extremely effective.  From a student's perspective, the weekly discussion was an opportunity to share my ideas and more importantly to gain a deeper understanding of the topic by reflecting on the ideas of my peers.

Because students are able to gain a more insightful understanding, the discussion forum functions as one of the most important teaching tools in a virtual instructors toolbox.  Yet, the discussion can be used ineffectively.  For example, students may post comments that are too simplistic and do not further engage their peers in the conversation.

To avoid this type of behavior and to make the forum as effective as possible, virtual teachers can adhere to a few best practices for facilitating an online discussion.  The most crucial best practice is clearly communicating the discussion expectations from the beginning.  Students should know the rules for good forum conversation (ie: how to appropriately disagree with someone) and should be given a rubric.  Another best practice for the online teacher in facilitating discussions is to encourage learners to dig deeper and continue the conversation by identifying connections and posing open ended questions.

In all, discussions are a necessary and essential element of the online course.  A virtual teacher must become an effective facilitator who maintains an obvious presence while building a collaborative environment in which students take the lead.