Discussion Forum Instructions
Hi everyone!
We realize that online learning in this discussion format may be new to many of you and can vary between courses. Therefore, we have created this guide for you on how to work with the forum in this class.
Posts
Discussion forum engagement is the lifeblood of the course. Please write one (1) paragraph of 4-6 sentences of length for each numbered prompt in the initial discussion forum. Some discussions have 3-4 clusters of questions. In that case, you will have 3-4 paragraphs.
You won’t see what the others have written until you have posted your own answer.
Write or speak!
If you feel more comfortable recording your entries, you may also use the Record/Upload Media option in the discussion board to post your contributions.
Replies – Ask a Question, Answer a Question
For all discussion forum assignments, you are expected to reply to your peers using the Ask a Question, Answer a Question format:
- Reply to your peers with at least five (5) substantive sentences. Sentences like “Hello” and “Good post” do not count toward this length requirement.
- When possible, seek out students who have not yet received a response.
- One of these sentences should ask a question of each peer based upon the content of their post. This question should be related to the substance of their post.
- Check the discussion forum throughout the week.
- When your peers respond to your posts, answer their questions, then ask a question in return to further the conversation.
- Similarly, when you ask a question, monitor the thread for responses, answer their question, and ask another question in return, etc.
- When responding to your peers, search for posts that do not yet have replies rather than focusing on specific people.
- Respond in this manner often throughout the next week for full participation.
Can I write longer than the minimum?
Please try to be brief and adhere to the sentence limits. We absolutely love that you are getting excited about the content and sharing with one another! But keep in mind many of your peers may have jobs, kids, other studies, and health issues that may prevent them from extensive engagement in the forums.
Remember that you also have your journals, which you can use as spaces to expand upon your thoughts from the Module. You are welcome to exceed the sentence limits there.
How many posts are required for each discussion?
This may differ depending on the discussion assignment. The minimum is two (2) in all cases: one (1) for your initial post, and then at least one (1) response to the posts of your peers. Note that replies to your own posts do not count toward this minimum. Of course, we recommend continuing the conversation — hence the Ask a Question, Answer a Question format — but we realize not everyone has the time to communicate all week.
Is it rude to abruptly end a conversation?
Not in an online course. We all have schedules to maintain and some of us have more free time than others. Get what you can from the discussions, but also make sure you are moving on to complete the next required activities for the course.
What do the points mean?
The points are there since it is an assignment. You get 1 point for completing a task and 0,5 for partly completing a task. The forum discussions have two parts: writing your own post and answering two (2) peers. So for full completion you get 2 points. To see your points and feedback from us, you can click Grades in the list to the left. We try to have the feedback done one week after each module due date.