Posting on discussion boards will give you the opportunity to improve your communication and collaboration skills by interacting with your peers and engaging more deeply with your course.
Here are some tips for getting the most out of the experience and for interacting with your classmates in a thoughtful and respectful way.
Acknowledge and respond to other people's posts
Remember that discussion boards are not meant to be a series of unrelated posts on a topic. Therefore, it is important to read what other students have written, think about their view and respond respectfully. Then, other students will consider your post, and add their ideas to the discussion.
Hopefully, through this process, students will learn from each other, consider issues from other points of view and to develop deeper insights into the issue.
Asking for further information
To help the discussion develop, you can ask your classmates for more information about their posts. The following are examples of how this can be done respectfully:
Could you please explain your point a little more?
Could you elaborate on that?
I'm not entirely clear on this. Could you explain it further?
Could you please clarify your last statement?
That’s an interesting way to see the issue. Would you mind providing some more detail?
Be open to new ideas
Treat discussion board activities as a chance to learn from your peers. Even if you have strong ideas on the topic of discussion, there is always a chance to see the issue through someone else’s eyes.
Agreeing and disagreeing
When interacting on discussion boards, you will often be required to agree or disagree with something a classmate has written. When doing this, you are required to write more than ‘I agree’ or ‘I disagree’. You will also need to provide a justification for your stance. By giving examples and explanations, you will help to develop a richer discussion.
Avoid emotional responses
If you are passionate about the topic which is being discussed, it is possible that someone may write something that triggers an emotional response.
Instead of posting immediately, take a moment to compose yourself before responding. Remember that this is an academic discussion and that our posts should be professional.
