Discussion Board/Forum
A discussion board or forum is an online tool that facilitates asynchronous discussion. In contrast to a live chat, contributors don’t need to be logged in at the same time. Instead, participants post to a virtual “notice board” where their post remains visible for peers to read/respond to.
Boards may be heavily moderated/teacher-led or student-led. Within a blended/online environment, they are often used to prepare for, or follow up on live classes.
Typically used to facilitate and assess:
- communication skills.
- discussion.
- reflection.
- debate.
- critical analysis.
- team working.
- peer review.
When contributing to discussion boards as part of an assessment, always refer to the guidelines and requirements provided by your lecturer, keeping the following points in mind:
- Make sure you know how to post and respond to another student’s post. If in doubt, ask your lecturer where you might find help.
- What is the purpose of the discussion board? Can you use it to ask questions about lecture content, assessments, group formations? Are your posts being graded?
- If your posts are being assessed, are they being used for formative or summative assessment purposes (or both!)
- If your posts contribute to your final grade (i.e. are being used for summative assessment), how much are they worth?
- What criteria is being used to assess your contributions? For example,
- Are they being assessed by quantity or length of posts, or by the quality of your responses or both?
- Has a rubric been provided? Make sure you keep this mind when writing each post.
- As a general tip, if you are asking a question on a discussion board, check the other posts to see if it has been answered already. Someone else may have got there before you! Going to the discussion forum can be a great place to hear the opinions of others, ask questions or discuss the module content.
Trinity-supported tools:
The Institutional VLE discussion tool is accessible through Blackboard.
Google Groups and MS Yammer and Teams are accessible via myzone
External tools (unsupported by Trinity):
Online Discussions: Tips for Students
This article from the University of Waterloo provides a list of tips for students on how to participate effectively in online discussions.