Summary:
Sull provides his insights on managing threaded discussions in online classrooms in this opinion paper. He provided no references or outside research to support his claims beyond his own personal experiences, leaving his ideas--though good--without the traditional rigor and support expected in peer reviewed journals. Perhaps he felt the ideas are so widely accepted that they did not merit such support, or perhaps his audience is those entering the field who are merely looking for good ideas. Some of his ideas are good. Some are quite suspect and many exceptions to the "rule" exist.
Here are his suggestions:
p. 66
- Be sure your students are fully aware of all discussion expectations.
- Give students examples of quality and not-so-good discussion postings.
- Be the first person to post in each threaded discussion.
- Always give a summary posting on the last day of each threaded discussion.
- Be positive and non-judemental in all responses to student postings.
- In proactive and reactive postings make occasional use of your experiences--and their experiences.
- After each of your postings, end with a specific question or two to the class.
- Remain enthusiastic and interested about the postings throughout the thread.
- Be a frequent presence in each discussion thread--but also know the importance of being absent.
- Limit your number of short postings.
- Be sure to transition a previous week's discussion thread to the next one.
- Keep students from straying off topic in their postings.
- Be on the lookout for students who tend to dominate postings.
- Post additional resources to give added interest to discussion topics.
- Be personal in responses by responding specifically to content in student posts and by using students' names.
- Remind students of the assigned reading material that relates to the discussion topic.
- For students hesitant to post ask them to be in charge of a discussion.
- Call on colleagues for input an suggestions, and offer the same to them.
- If feasible use student teams in discussion threads.
- Be sure to respond quickly to students' quentions of you.
- Create a variety of posts to keep students more engaged.
- Be care of killing a thread by posting too much or giving a 'dead-end' post.
- Be always aware of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.
- Have students post practical applications of discussion topics if necessary.
- Change discussion topics if it better fits the week.
- If you create your own threaded discussion threads each week, do so wisely.
- Always give constructive feedback.
