The forum in Stud.IP

All participants can publish contributions to discussions on the forum. Communication takes place asynchronously – participants in the discussion are not necessarily all online at the same time. Everyone can read and answer or comment on every entry.

In Stud.IP the forum is linked to a course, so that only the participants in the course can access the forum. By using the forum on the course you offer the students a safe space for online discussions.

Feedback forum on Stud.IP
At the University of Göttingen every Stud.IP user is enrolled in the “Feedback forum”. Users can discuss Stud.IP on this course forum, and raise questions about the system, function suggestions, design, etc.

Practical tips:

• Explain the purpose of the discussion forum to the students.
• Where possible link the activities on the forum with the work required for the seminar.
• Provide clearly formulated, interesting topics for discussion; when you set up the topics on the forum you can prestructure how work progresses.
• Have the students summarise the results of a discussion, e.g. in group work.

First and foremost you must ensure good moderation of the forum: contributions must be read and the discussion kept in order or even regularly set going; these tasks can also be handled by students. You should also advise moderators about the rules of the forum as regards content or length of contributions, as well as the appropriate (netiquette), so that they can ensure that these are observed. If the forum discussion is intended to go on for a lengthy period, the rules can also be developed by the participants themselves.

• Example forum etiquette
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  • First search old threads. Your question may already have been answered.
  • Choose an informative title for your contribution.
  • Keep it friendly. Insults, patronising behaviour or pejorative expressions are not acceptable on the forum. Respect others and their contributions. Formulate your question so as to avoid misunderstandings – be careful with irony and humour. Emoticons – e.g. ;) for winking – can help to keep the tone of the text light.
  • Write clearly and comprehensibly. Observe grammatical rules, avoid typographic errors, pay attention to spelling and sentence construction rules. Avoid writing in capital letters – it seems as if you are shouting. Check your contribution before sending it.
  • Only write what you are sure about. If you cannot give a reliable answer to a question, state that your answer is speculative.

  
  




Example scenarios:



• Questioning before the start of a seminar
• Question and Answer game on the forum



Further reading:




• Bremer, Claudia: Anwendungsszenarien zum Einsatz von Foren im eLearning (PDF)
• Bremer, Claudia: Aktivierende Methoden und Gestaltung netzbasierter Diskussionsprozesse in Foren (PDF)