Introducing the Discussion Board

Nick Bunyan and Dan Roberts

eLearning Unit

Educational Development DivisionCentre for Lifelong Learning

Housekeeping - G.07

• Lavatories – G.07 > down to the basement and turn left

through fire door.• Fire alarms – none scheduled for today – don’t

use lifts - follow Fire Exit signs – muster point is: Outside Natwest Bank under canopy

• Food and drink – Please no food in computer lab.

Session descriptor for referenceThe summer 2013 VITAL upgrade saw a redesign and enhancements for the Discussion Board

tool. This introductory session will focus on both the practical aspects of setting up and using a Discussion Board, and introduce examples and case studies from staff already using the tool from across the University.

The workshop will cover:– An introduction, some general principles and case studies of using online discussions to support

student learning.– Practical work setting up and participating in Discussion Boards, including the mobile version.– Running online discussions – monitoring, moderating and tracking student contributions.

This workshop will be suitable for staff new to VITAL Discussion Boards who want to integrate simple, non-assessed applications of online discussions into their learning and teaching.

If you are already familiar with this technology and need more specific support outside the scope of this workshop - online distance learning for example - please contact the eLearning Unit to discuss your requirements.

First things...

• Sign-in sheet – please complete – mailing list option

• Feedback at the end – let us know what was good, bad, useful or useless!

• Introductions – us, the eLU, support available

Session Structure

(Approximate)• 14:00 – 16:00ish > planned session length• Introduction & Discussion Board overview• Try out the Discussion Board• Setting up forums & threads• Running and managing discussions• Case Studies & Checklist for online discussions• Further support

What is the Discussion Board?Long-standing part of VITAL – old tech?

Key Features of a Discussion Board• Asynchronous and Recorded

– Takes place over time (days, weeks)– Recorded in the module to revisit, review, assess

• Threaded– Organised visually to follow ‘flow’ of discussions

• Another Social Environment for learning and teaching – Online collaborative learning– Learners from many backgrounds and greater numbers

Discussion Board - Structure

Have a go!

Side menu bar – Discussion Boards > Discussion Board Workshop Forum – FIRST ACTIVITY

1. First – introductions – an icebreaker type forum to bond the group2. Second – having a go at an online discussion.

Have a go!

Side menu bar – Discussion Boards > Discussion Board Workshop Forum – SECOND ACTIVITY

1. First impressions of using Discussion Boards – set up for anonymous posts

Running and Managing

• Moderated discussions• SECOND ACTIVITY Forum – will now switch on

moderation• Now post anonymously – replies to peoples

first impressions• Change someone’s role to moderator and

demonstrate the moderation queue

Practice setting up a new forum

Go to the eLearning Unit Workshop Test Module > Discussion Boards > Discussion Board.

Practice setting up a new forum and working through all the settings.

How students access a discussion board

You need to create links within a module:

• Side menu bar > Add Tool link > Discussion board

• Within a Content Area > Tools > Discussion Board.

How students can quickly see new posts to a discussion board

Subscribe option – sends an email alert to their University account.

From the VITAL homepage > Global navigation menu – this aggregates all posts for all of their modules.

Via the Blackboard mobile app on their phones or tablets. (They can reply to posts etc here as well)

Discussion boards within Group tools

Students can also access private (to a specific group) discussion board as part of the Group tool options within a VITAL module – you will need to set these up

Case Studies and Discussion

UoL Staff

• Dr Laszlo Pazmany –School of Medicine

• Dr Gary Brown - ULMS

Checklist - Setting expectations

• Why online discussion are being used and how it relates to the module

• How you want the students to write (tone, formality, length of post) and online etiquette

• Your/tutor involvement and what it entails

• Some training in using the DB

Resources from Workshop

Resources and Further Support

• eLearning Unit: (http://www.liv.ac.uk/elearning/)

– ‘Phone and email help: elearning@liv.ac.uk

– ‘Studio Wednesdays’: afternoon drop-in every Wednesday afternoon – 3rd Floor, 126 Mount Pleasant (blog post link)

– VITAL Self Service: http://utils.liv.ac.uk/vital/– Further training/support by request