Effectively Managing Discussion Boards

So, you came up with a great idea to have an online discussion with your class. Wonderful! Just make sure to have some of the basics in place before this molehill turns into Mount Everest....

Things to have in place when requiring a discussion board in your course:

• Points should be assigned to every required posting
• A rubric should be developed and communicated with your students
• Explicit posting procedures should be communicated to students:
• Naming conventions for posting
• How many classmates they should reply to
• Types of replies that are required
• Be explicit about what students should expect of you in the discussion board
• Summarize and close each discussion once the due date has arrived
• Have students and/or student groups moderate & summarize discussions

Blackboard tools to use:

• Set up threads or forums so that you can grade postings directly from the board.
• Have students rate other students’ responses using the Blackboard star system as well as reply to postings.
• Use the Collect tool to easily combine and read all posts related to a single thread
• Use the Search field to easily find threads with keywords

Question crafting ideas:

• Select an interesting topic, one that gets them thinking and wanting to read other responses.
• Think about questions/discussions that are difficult for student to spontaneously answer/discuss in class.

….And be sure to….

Log into the discussion board daily in order to keep abreast of new postings.

Resources:

Moderating & Facilitating Online Discussions

Developing Discussion Board Ideas for Your Class - worksheet

Discussion Board Rubric

Another Discussion Board Rubric

Getting Started with Discussion Boards in Blackboard

Doing More with Discussion Boards in Blackboard