Why Online Discussions?

Instructors have a number of choices to make when using online discussion in their courses.

• How do you want to use online discussion in your course?
• What learning goals are best achieved through asynchronous online discussion, rather than through "real time" discussion in the face-2-face classroom?
• What are the strengths, and drawbacks, of asynchronous online discussion?

Your answers will help you decide how to best add online discussion activities to your course.

What's Different?

What are some of the important differences between classroom and face-2-face discussions?

Benefits of Online Discussions

• Provide a less threatening environment for quieter students who do not speak up in class.
• Extend discussions beyond available class time to allow for deeper reflection and editing of comments.
• Allow the input of participants outside of the class, such as outside faculty, students at other institutions, or professionals in the field.
• Discussion of sensitive issues is often easier via the discussion board.
• Participants can easily reference external information sources on the web.
• Allow you to customize lessons based on what comes up during the discussions or vice versa.
• Provide a record of topics discussed for use in following classes.

And the Challenges...

• Visual and auditory cues are missing
• Can be time-consuming, particularly in large classes
• May require encouragement from you as the moderator to have students participate