A discussion board is a “place” where students can delve deeper into classroom material. It can encourage collaboration and provide individuals with space to explore topics, issues, and questions. The discussion board is an excellent tool for students who prefer to express their understanding of course content in writing rather than verbally.
Discussion boards can also be used to better use the Internet’s resources by allowing students to include hyperlinks to relevant content. Because discussion boards are asynchronous, they provide an opportunity for conversation that cannot be found in a classroom setting.
Responding to a discussion post with your classmates is an essential aspect of taking online classes. Your response will influence your grades and the impression you want to make. Remember, this is a debate. Students are not expected to make their discussion post response and then sit back. You’re expected to add to the conversation, find new angles, and move it forward in a positive direction.
Here are four suggestions for when replying to a discussion post
Etiquette in a discussion
Establish discussion etiquette right away to help students understand your expectations. You can model proper online interaction and reinforce appropriate behavior with public recognition. You can also provide specific guidelines:
- Make threads easy to follow and scan by using descriptive subject lines.
- Keep your posts brief and straightforward. Your audience is reading onscreen and may be reading multiple messages.
- When you agree or disagree with others, back up your statements with evidence.
- In academic positions, use professional language, including proper grammar. Slang, emoticons, and chat acronyms are not permitted.
- For extended, detailed information, use attachments or links to websites.
- Remain on topic. Find an appropriate forum if you want to start a new thread or introduce a new tangent.
- Respect other people’s viewpoints and remember the golden rule: treat others as you want.
In graded forums and threads, clarify to students what you expect in terms of quantity and quality of discussion board response. You can even share some outstanding discussion board reply examples. Rubrics can also be used to help students understand your objectives.
Show Respect
In an online discussion response classroom, you are expected to be courteous in the same way you are expected in any public forum. From not taking disagreements personally and responding politely to using professional, academic language rather than slang, jargon, and emoticons – it’s critical to respect everyone’s opinions and the medium while interacting.
Before writing anything controversial, consider whether you would say it in person – if not, leave it out of your discussion board post. Gender, culture, sexual orientation, and religious beliefs must all be considered. Another simple but important point to remember is to avoid using ALL-CAPS because it comes across as rude and makes you appear to be screaming.
Respond to a thread
Threaded discussions support infinite layers of response nesting, allowing commenters to respond to multiple nested threads simultaneously. Threaded discussions are ideal for refining complex ideas. Because of its hierarchical structure, responses and different lines of inquiry can be quickly navigated. Threaded discussion responses can be long-standing spaces for ideas that last throughout a course.
For multiple posts and related comments, write discussion questions. One or more discussion leaders post a message, and multiple learners comment on it, free to create an unlimited number of related discussion topics and comments.
Threaded Conversations can also be used to:
• post and answer multiply related or unrelated questions
• organize results from a complex research activity
• share and iterate on ideas shared by each student in the course
• debate the pros and cons of a single issue or multiple issues
• ask multiple questions of a single discussion leader
• refine ideas between multiple discussion leaders and multiple learners (fishbowl conversations)
Guidelines on how to write a discussion board post thread
- Three-Part Post (Developed by Dr. Judith Boettcher, Executive Director of the Corporation for Research and Educational Networking)
- If the discussion question asks you to respond to an open-ended question about a specific problem, challenge, or idea, a good thread will include three sections:
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- Part 1: Explain your thought or recommendation. In other words, respond to the question, “What do you think?”
- Part 2: Explain why you believe what you believe. Investigate your own experiences, beliefs, and knowledge. It’s also an excellent place to include references, textual quotations, and links to materials that support your point of view.
o Part 3: Express what you wish you knew or directly solicit the opinions of your classmates (in other words, ask a question!)
- To put it another way, respond to the question, “What do you think? “Within Discussions, you can:
• Add, edit, and remove discussion topics. You can also respond to specific student discussion posts.
• Join a discussion and receive notifications when people respond.
• Join podcast feeds within discussions.
• Include files, images, and YouTube videos.
Make it Important
To begin, saying things like “I completely agree with you!” or “Good post” is a no-no. This is not a society of mutual adoration. Instructors want to know your unique point of view in this case, and you must be able to present a compelling argument supported by substantial evidence.
Even if a classmate has posted something you agree with, you can start by saying that you agree with them and then add your unique perspective or relate it to your own life experience by sharing an anecdote. You cannot be a yes-man or a silent observer; you must think of ways to expand on that conversation.
Given the medium, feel free to include a video, audio clip, or link supporting your argument.
Contextual Writing
While explaining your agreement or disagreement, keep it contextual and connect to your syllabus and what you’ve learned in the course. It’s a good idea to specify which aspect of your classmate’s post you’re responding to – it just clarifies things for everyone.
Many students habitually veer off-topic and write lengthy posts that add little value. This only serves to divert attention and creates an unnecessary read. You certainly do not want to be that student. So, when replying to discussion post examples, please keep them in context and relevant to the prompt and topics to write my discussion board post. There are no points awarded for length; instead, there are points awarded for insightful and valuable responses.
Ask Questions
Ending your discussion post response with a probing, open-ended question that advances the discussion is always a good idea. A thoughtful question can help you understand the logic behind someone’s explanation, or a follow-up question can help a classmate elaborate on their response.
Asking questions demonstrates that you are genuinely invested in the discussion board post and want to see it progress. That being said, your questions should prompt people to think and contribute.
Last Thoughts
Finally, keep in mind that your discussion board posts and responses are being monitored and will impact your grade.
So, whether it’s conducting qualitative research, writing a well-structured post, how to post on a discussion board, or maintaining decorum, you need to publish posts that are well-crafted, unique, and insightful to make a good impression and stand out. Not used to studying in this manner? We comprehend.
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Conclusion
Make an effort always to bring up new discussion board posts. It’s pointless to repeat something that has already been said. You should always try to advance the conversation—be provocative! If you agree with the previous respondent, provide an additional example or resource. The second poster in the preceding example includes numerous comments with which the next student—or even the previous poster—can agree or disagree.
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