Participating in Online Group Discussions

As a student, you will find that many online courses will require you to take part in online group discussions. Usually, group discussions will take place over a period of time possibly a few days or a week and each student in the class will add his or her contribution and responses at different times. The purpose of online discussions is to demonstrate your understanding of a specific topic, interact with your instructor and other classmates and actively participate in the course. Many times, your participation in these discussions are graded as an assessment of what you have learned in a course.You should take time to prepare before you post something on a group discussion board.

What to Do

When you are presented with a discussion question, make sure you complete all assignments related to that question including reading assigned materials, watching videos and listening to recordings. By doing this, you will be prepared to form your post and then respond to your classmates' posts. At the beginning of your course, ask your instructor any questions you may have about the group discussions so you are entirely clear about the process. When working on a piece of writing that you will eventually post on the discussion board, first compose a draft in MS Word or any word processing program and save it. This will allow you to review and edit your response before you post and you will also have it saved should the posting be lost or deleted.

After You Respond

When you have created, edited and reviewed your response, you will be ready to post on the discussion board. Instructions for how to post to a discussion vary depending on the course and teacher. Make sure you review any directions that an instructor provides before posting. Many discussions have due dates just like any other class assignments, so it is important that you understand when your post is due and leave yourself enough time to post. Do not wait until the last minute to post in case you encounter a problem, because submitting a posting late may hurt your grade or the system may not let you post after a scheduled due date.

It is just as important to provide feedback in an online discussion as it is to adequately prepare and post. Providing feedback is the step that truly makes the discussion a discussion, involving you, your classmates and your instructor. You should take the time to read through posts from your classmates to see how they compare to your own. Replying to your classmates' posts is important as well and depending on your instructor, it may be a requirement and count as part of your grade. Once you submit your first post, you should check back from time to time. This will allow you to keep the conversation going and respond to replies or add to your post.

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