Let's talk discussion boards

Does anyone else dislike discussion boards (DB) the way I do? I am okay with writing my initial thread. However, posting replies to my peers is the hardest part. Now that I am back in school, I already dread posting discussion replies. I would rather write a 5-page paper each week than write a stupid DB reply. I remember when I finished my Ph.D. coursework, I was so happy that I wouldn't have to engage in DBs anymore. Sadly, I've had a few asynchronous professional development courses that had DBs involved...

I am already thinking of completing the four courses needed to earn the graduate certificate and withdraw from the M.S. program. Furthermore, I am not as motivated to be a student anymore. I actually enjoy my leisure time

 

Chris,

You make a powerful argument against discussion boards, with many great points!

Some people argue for discussion boards. Used well, they can allow students to show and even help them to build critical thinking skills (Aloni & Harrington, 2018).

This doesn't take away from your argument, Chris. As the saying goes, "different strokes for different folks" (Stone, 1968)!

 

Absolutely. I know there are ways to make them engaging. I've made several changes to the DBs for my upcoming fall courses to make them more engaging for my students. For the first time, students will have the option of posting a video or written initial thread. I also ensured that the prompts are more debatable, allowing multiple perspectives.

As a student, I just find in-person discussions better than online DBs.

 

I despise them, yes. That was another bonus to the MBA program I went with. Other than the cheaper transfer courses I did (50% of the program) I won't have to do discussions with other students.

 

I guess I am the lone supporter of Discussions. I believe, if worded correctly, and efficiently by faculty, these "discussions" can not replace an active face-to-face class discussion but do allow us to vet the topics. Why responses? It is a discussion, not an individual posting exercise, and it can provide insights beyond the point of view you came in with.

Just my two cents1

 

Chris and Jonathan, I think you both provided interesting points of view. Thank you both for sharing your thoughts, it is invaluable to this topic. I look forward to learning more from both of you through this course.

 

JBjunior, thank you for your reply to your peers. Unfortunately, it did not meet the minimum word count (i.e., 200 words). Please ensure you are posting substantive replies in the future.

-Professor

 

I don’t think most of mine had a word count requirement, at least not at the undergraduate level. The best I remember it was a three sentence minimum but that was a few years ago. Also, since most of the replies from the class were similar to that structure (vague, could almost be used with small changes to every reply) I don’t think most of the professors had the energy to correct everyone each week since it probably wasn’t fully defined in the syllabus.

 

I'm in favor of them, but not in the way their usually implemented. It's the requirement to respond that I find dreadful as an instructor. What passes for a substantive response? And if students have to be forced to post and respond, are they really learning?

I'm more interested in outcomes, not inputs. Formative and summative evaluations mean a lot more than measuring inputs like the number of posts students create. If the discussion board becomes a source of learning and/or support, fine. If not, fine.

Notice how many people expressed their disdain for discussion boards on a...wait for it...discussion board. The difference? People read and post here because it interests them, not because they have to meet a quota.

 

I don’t necessarily hate the weekly discussions, but I was not thrilled when one of my classes required your initial post to be an audio or video post. That made it harder for me to respond. You have to listen to the whole thing before determining if you have a response. Usually, I can skim to find one that I think I can contribute to. But the audio/video component made it harder

 

That's a good point. The only one I'll be mandating a video for is the intro DB because I want to see their faces. I tried an optional synchronous session this past semester to meet them, and they didn't accept. So, hopefully, I'll make a connection when I see them on video. The weekly DBs will be optional video or written. So, I'm sure I'll see both, perhaps mostly written. I find that students are often shy to be on camera.

 

The course that I just started requires us to have our face on our profile so our instructor can see our faces. As a student, that would be my preference. It’s really easy to be able to quickly read posts. You can read them no matter what is going on around you. If your husband is watching TV, or your kid is on the phone with friends, or even while sitting at your kids ball game. You can pull up posts and read them. At minimum, you can skim them and pick out students who have kids the same age as yours, work in the same industry, or have a dog. I can, at least skim all of them. If it’s video, I am only looking at 2 or 3 - tops. The rest will never be seen by me. I do like some videos when it comes to instructional material, because it’s more meaningful and less cumbersome. But I really hated it in the weekly discussion posts. It was a schoolwide policy and I am glad that I was just taking one class there and very happy to be back at my “regular” school.

I also found it true that very few people attend the live sessions. We had 42 students in our class. There were 2 or three times when I was the only student who attended. (Which helped her to be able to record it). And a few other times there were only 3-4 students. I always try to attend live sessions. I always get *something* out of it.

 

I would absolutely hate that. And, sorry but, I don't believe that teachers need to see anyone's faces for an online course. I'm not saying this applies to you, but video/pictures and even audio gives teachers too much opportunity to be racist, sexist, misogynistic, homophobic, or just plain discriminatory based on looks.