Why
The Discussion Board is an opportunity to create a sense of community in an online class. You can create small private discussion groups that report out to the larger class. As a supplement to an face-to-face class, the discussion board allows students time to reflect before sharing their opinions. Some students are more comfortable expressing themselves in writing first. Some professors have found that posting a topic to the discussion board first greatly improves the quality of discussion during actual face-to-face class time.
It is important to make your expectations clear from the beginning. Does spelling matter? Is the emphasis on the exchange of ideas only? Is slang okay or is this a more formal environment? You set the tone when you introduce the Discussion Board and many professors find it helpful to create and post discussion guidelines on the Discussion Board entry page. Here are sample guidelines you may use or modify and here are some examples from other universities.
WebCT gives you the ability to send a private posting to someone in the discussion board. No one else can see it so you can communicate directly with a student. A private posting is a useful tool to alert a student who may be using the Discussion Board inappropriately at first.
Modeling is powerful. Early in the semester consider posting detailed messages yourself or commenting positively on postings that are thoughtful and detailed.
It is useful to have different deadlines for initial postings and for responses. Otherwise, everyone is posting right before your deadline and there is no opportunity for interaction or reflection. Here are some other Best Practices Tips and Tricks.
Creative use of Threaded Discussion
This is a 3-part article about using Discussion Boards in WebCT.
Using Discussion Boards to Integrate Technology into the College Classroom
A research-based article packed with practical ideas for effective use of online discussions.
Just as in a face-to-face class, the quality of the question affects the quality of the responses. See the Questioning Toolkit.
How
To create and use the discussion board follow these steps. (Video tutorial)
To create and use the blog tool follow these steps. (Video tutorial)
To create and use the journal tool follow these steps. (Video tutorial)
To use the Peer Review option, follow these steps. (Video tutorial)
To grade topics on the Discussion Board follow these steps. (Video tutorial)
To create a printable view of the Discussion Board follow these steps.
Detailed handout on Using Discussion Forums in WebCT from Univeristy College London
Netiquette (the ettiquette for online behavior) is also worth addressing.