By Susan Smith Nash, Ph.D.
One of the best ways to motivate yourself to stay in a course is to feel that you’re a part of a learning community and that there is someone to turn to besides your professor for guidance, support, and feedback. Online, that community can form in many places, but best place is often the discussion board area, or forums, which involve all the individuals taking the course, not just a few.
For course developers and instructors, it is useful to have an understanding of how discussion boards "have the unique capacity to support higher constructivist learning and the development of a learning community" (Levine, 2007). A learning community generally consists of a group of individuals who are studying the same course and for the same purpose. Further, establishing a learning community is vital in e-learning (Garrison, 2007).
According to S. J. Levine, in his article on online discussion boards that appeared in the journal New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education (2007), certain conditions must be met in order for an online learning community to form via discussion boards in a class.
Condition 1: The social climate must be supportive. It has to be a climate conducive to learning. Levine points to Malcolm Knowles’ ideas on androgogy and learning (Knowles, 1980), in which Knowles discusses the fact that adult learners need to feel connected to other like-minded learners. What this means in operative terms, is that the atmosphere should be positive, and the discussion board questions phrased so that they encourage individuals to share, and not simply type in the "right" answer.
The instructor can do a lot to make sure that the social climate is supportive. One excellent way to do so is to make sure that there is a place to ask questions and to seek clarification. It’s important to give individuals a chance to ask questions in a non-punitive environment, and also to encourage the sharing of information. Asking questions in the discussion board area and seeing the instructor post responsive, supportive replies is one of the best ways to help students build confidence, develop a sense of self-determination, and a pro-active "I can do it" attitude.
Condition 2: Introductions must be made. According to Levine, if a discussion board does not include a meaningful introduction, and does not set out rules for interaction, there can be problems as learners fail to interact in a purposeful manner.
Introductions can do a lot to help "rehumanize" the discussion board area. They are very effective in giving a sense of who is taking the class and why. It also provides an opportunity to share information that helps establish common ground, even if that is a seemingly insignificant as the fact that you and another person may have a certain type of dog or cat. What is occurring, among other things, is a sense of affiliation, which can be extremely motivating. People have needs for affiliation, and an online environment can be isolating, unless things are done to help reduce the sense of apartness or isolation.
Condition 3: A guide must be involved, and the discussions should include meaningful feedback by the instructor or guide. The discussion board is a balancing act. An instructor should be careful not to dominate or co-opt discussions. The idea that one’s every response is being judged and/or criticized can stifle discussion very quickly. An overbearing instructor presence can also lead to reduced risk-taking and originality with respect to the types of responses being offered.
On the other hand, if the instructor is not present, there may be a sense of "why am I doing this?" even if the discussion participation is a graded item. If the instructor does not post responses, the learners may wonder if they’re on the right track, and if their responses will count at all toward their grade.
Perhaps the worst consequence of a lack of instructor presence is the sudden lack of a referee or student advocate. What happens in the case of a cyber bully? What happens when the student brings up inappropriate subjects or topics that could be construed as harassing or demeaning? The presence of a guide helps individuals combat that problem.
The discussion board can be the heart of the course, and can be the place where students feel the most empowered and inspired.
Innovative and pro-active approaches to developing learning communities by means of discussions can also include:
- 1---Posting drafts and outlines of papers and assignments.
- 2---Posting responses or overviews of assignment-related articles, books, movies, etc.
- 3---Relating experiences in one’s own life to the discussion or topic being addressed.
- 4---Connecting the topic under discussion to a current event item.
- 5---Posting questions for fellow students that are related to the topics and learning outcomes.
Future discussion board approaches. With the increasing popularity of handheld devices, and multi-functional phones, discussion boards can incorporate more text-messaging posts, audio posts, and image/video posts.
The obvious benefit to posting via cellphone is the immediacy and truly mobile nature of the interaction with fellow students. The downside is that some multimedia posts may be too large, or inappropriate. These issues can be resolved by the instructor.
Reference
Garrison, D. R., and Anderson, T. E-Learning in the 21st Century. London: Routledge Falmer, 2003.
Knowles, M. S. The Modern Practice of Adult Education: From Pedagogy to Andragogy. Chicago: Follett, 1980.
Levine, S. J. (2007). The Online Discussion Board. New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, 113: 67-74.
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