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Socializing Students to the Discussion Board

Why?

• It is very important to plan discussion board activities that quickly engage students in the use of the board. Your goal is to provide an initial exercise that is relatively low-risk to allow students to explore and become accustomed to the way a discussion board functions.

Implications for Teaching and Learning.

• Student and instructor introductions are often used as initial activities for distance courses. Students tend to respond to other students on a social level at this stage and welcome familar names to the course.
• You are actually allowing the opportunity for students to establish some type of online identity at this stage of the course. Their name or login, without context, makes them a faceless persona. Think about ways to use the introduction exercise as a way to gain information about each student. 

With the widespread use of digital cameras, it is easy to include photographs as a part of the introduction. Take care to define image size and resolution so students do not send enormous photos. You can also use the discussion board to push students to the Homepage tool to include photographs to begin to personalize the course.

Promising Practices for TWU.

• Include some activity, early in the course, to socialize students to the discussion board.
• At the socialization stage of the board, it is very important to respond to each student posting and to strongly encourage student comments on the introductions.  
• At this crucial time in the course, emphasize your expectations for online collaboration and cooperation.  

Additional Socialization Techniques.  

1. Encourage students to locate and pass along any URLs that seem helpful to understanding course content.
2. Encourage students to locate and pass along links to journal articles that might be helpful to other students.
3. Develop initial course activities to quickly build trust among students and between students and the instructor.
4. Encourage students to share experiences on the discussion board.
5. Create discussion boards to allow social and vicarious interactions.
6. Encourage students to study and prepare for exams together.
7. Encourage students to praise frequently and to construct low-risk feedback.
8. Frequently monitor student work on the board to intercede if the discussion is moving off topic.

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