PLANNING AN ONLINE DISCUSSION

1.	Purpose of the Discussion: (What do you want your students to learn?)

2.	Participation Requirements:
	a.	How should students prepare for the online discussion?  (e.g. readings, visits to web sites, assignments, in-class presentations...)

	b.	What is the minimum number of messages each student should post? ____

	c.	What kind of messages do you want them to post?  (e.g. substantiated claims, comments on other’s  messages, opinions, personal anecdotes, critique, peer review.)

3. 	Proof of participation & Proof of learning:  
(How will students demonstrate what they have learned?)

 
4.	How will you grade participation?       How will you grade the proof of learning?

5.	Begin/end dates:    

6.	Moderator(s):  

7.	Where will the discussion occur? 
	Name of Forum_________________ Name of Thread_________________

8.	Forum Settings for Blackboard 5 Discussion Board	YES	NO	
	Allow anonymous posts			
	Allow author to edit message after posting			
	Allow author to remove own posted message			
	Allow file attachments			
	Allow new thread			

																												

9.	In the Opening Message:
	a.	State the purpose of the discussion.												
	b.	State the closing date of discussion.
	c.	State the participation requirements.
	d.	Open with a thought provoking comment.
EXAMPLE							

Courtesy of Jeff Schmitt, Towson University

Will it be Possible to Build a Computer That Can Think?

Early computers were dubbed giant brains.  Did they think?  In 1950 Alan Turing devised a test to determine whether a machine was intelligent.  Decades of computer development have shown that computers can do tasks that in humans require intelligence: playing chess, proving theorems, performing complex mathematics.  But the computer knowledge is shallow outside of the precise field in which it was programmed.  Can true artificial intelligence be achieved?  Can human intelligence be regarded as something like a computer program that runs on a biological machine?  If so, the future may bring a hardware implementation of such a machine.  In this conference we will want to explore some of the intriguing issues concerning intelligence, machine learning, and “thinking.”
	
Please feel free to state your opinion, but it should be grounded in facts.  Rather than just stating, “Yes, I agree,” you must probe deeply into other people’s statements, challenging their opinions, adding and correcting facts and interpretations.  This conference will continue for one week and will end at 10 PM on June 21.

GRADING PARTICIPATION IN ONLINE DISCUSSIONS

To Verify that Students Posted the Minimum Number of Messages 
	1.	Lock the thread after the closing date of the discussion.
	2.	Click Expand All or expand the individual thread to show the messages.
	3.	Sort by Author.
	4.	Print the thread view for your records.

To Check the Quality of a Student’s Messages 
	1.	Expand the thread(s) to show all messages.
	2.	Sort by Author.
	3.	Click the Show Options tab to reveal the Options Menu.
	4.	Check the messages you wish to collect and view.
	5.	Click Collect to view the checked messages.
	6.	Print, if needed for your records or to discuss with the student.

Strategy 1:  Require Students to Demonstrate Their Participation
	Students conduct research on a topic and discuss the topic in the discussion board.  At the end of the discussion, each student completes a two-part assignment: 
 
		Part 1:	Summarize the discussion:  What did you learn?  What was missing from the discussion? 

		Part 2:	Hand in five of your best messages as part of your “paper.”  The posted messages are graded on their depth and their relevance to the online discussion.
																	
Strategy 2:  Use the Discussion Board for Peer Review

Each student completes an assignment and posts it in the discussion board for peer review by his/her assigned group.  Students critique each other’s assignments using Plus-Delta (What I liked, What I would change), PQP (Praise, Question, Polish), or some other evaluation strategy appropriate to the assignment.  Specific evaluation criteria work best.  Each student then revises his/her assignment based on the comments.  For a grade, students turn in their revised assignments AND their critiques of three other students’ assignments.

Last updated 3/6/01