Flexible Education Support

Online Discussions

Bill Ashcroft, School of English
Iain McAlpine, EDTeC

Online study is different from learning by attending lectures and tutorials.  For a start, there may be no lectures and tutorials so you need to discover alternatives to these using the online approach.  If there are no on-campus activities such as lectures and tutorials, you will find the alternative to these in the course readings.  They may be in print, such as in a textbook or collection of readings, or on WebCT or the Internet.  By keeping up with the weekly reading you keep up with the course content.  The alternative to tutorials or seminars are the online discussions.  Use the online discussions to keep in contact with what the tutor and the other students are thinking and doing, and to contribute your own ideas to the discussion.  The online discussions are an important element in how you will learn from this course.  You need to log into and contribute to the discussion at least twice a week (preferably more often) to gain the maximum benefit from this form of study.  Your contribution to the discussion does not need to be a long, carefully-written, piece of work.  Often a brief comment or observation on the topic will keep the discussion lively and stimulating.

What makes a good online discussion?

Online discussions will help you to develop your understanding by thinking about the topic, by expressing your ideas about it, and by taking account of other students' ideas. Sharing knowledge and ideas through discussion is a natural way for people to learn. An online discussion works the same way. The difference is that it is in writing, which gives people time to respond, and encourages them to think about what they have to say. Online discussions are a valuable way to learn because they encourage thoughtful reflection. In this course, online discussions are an important part of the learning process.

Sending a message to an online discussion is called making a posting. Generally, there are four kinds of postings that you will make at different times. These are (1) introductory, (2) information sharing, (3) topic analysis, and (4) question or comment (questions and responses to other people's postings). The desirable characteristics of the different postings are as follows:

• Introductory - in online discussions you will be asked to introduce yourself as you may be asked in a tutorial. The online introduction is even more important because it is a particular kind of social situation. The written introduction gives you practice and gets you started using the online medium.
  

• Information sharing - on many occasions you will be asked to share information online. This may be a result of something the tutor has asked for, or you may wish to share some of your own information on the topic. This may come from reading or other research you have done, or from your existing knowledge or experience. Information sharing helps you to get started with online discussions and it helps the tutor and the other participants also.

• Topic analysis - this is probably the most important type of posting to the discussion. Here are a few pointers for doing it well:

  1. respond to other people in the discussion as well as the tutor

  2. it should be at least 200 words in length (however sometimes a short question or observation can be a very good posting because it helps to develop the discussion in a new way).

  3. make a statement that develops the discussion with your own ideas. If other students have outlined the main issues on the topic, acknowledge this and try to develop these ideas further.

  4. Respect your own ideas and opinions and don't be afraid to express them (so long as they are relevant to the discussion topic)

  5. The best posting of all is one that is substantial, which demonstrates that you have done the reading, and which reveals your command of the topic by the way in which you have related it to your own ideas, knowledge and experience.

  6. Follow the discussion regularly to develop your awareness of the way the discussion is evolving.

  7. Post to the discussion regularly to maintain your own interest and involvement.

• Question or comment - these are postings which form a discussion by posing questions or commenting constructively on other people's postings. These are the kinds of postings that actually make it a discussion rather than a collection of monologues, and should follow all the rules of netiquette. It is as important for you to try to make interrogatory postings as it is to post a substantial topic analysis.