- What role does EPost play in the course as a whole?
- Will you require students to use EPost or will you make it optional?
- Will you set deadlines for postings?
- Will you limit the number of students in each online discussion (or EPost account)?
- Will you provide guiding questions or topics for the discussions?
- Will you read the postings, comment, provide summaries and/or redirections?
What role does EPost play in the course as a whole?
EPost can:
- Offer more opportunities for participation, especially for shy students.
- Provide a space for student feedback (e.g., on guest lectures) and further discussion.
- Create small discussions groups within a large class.
- Offer a convenient way to archive and preserve course discussions.
But keep in mind, it should be:
- Referred to or included in in-class discussions.
- Closely linked (topically) to the class.
- Given appropriate credit and guidelines.
Will you require students to use EPost or will you make it optional?
Require your students to use EPost if your purpose is to:
- Promote online discussion.
- Monitor how your students are thinking about course content or readings.
- Provide an extra credit or supplementary forum for voluntary student discussion.
- Provide space for informal Q & A sessions.
- Some instructors have found that an optional EPost discussion board provides a space for students who are reluctant to speak in class to participate in discussions (without requiring EPost for everyone).
Will you set deadlines for postings?
Deadlines offer several advantages because they:
- Help students structure their time.
- Ensure that postings appear regularly rather than sporadically.
- Keep discussions and collaboration going smoothly.
- Structure the time you spend responding to students' postings.
- Students' time online is not just to post their own individual contributions to the discussion, but to read and reflect on other students' contributions, which may be a very time-consuming process for some students (depending on the size of the class and the length of the discussion).
- Some students' schedules and limited access to the technology may restrict the time they have available to participate online.
- Some instructors prefer "real world" deadlines, requiring only that people complete the final project on time. These instructors often choose not to set intermediate deadlines for students in order to help them develop that time management skill.
Will you limit the number of students in each online discussion (or EPost account)?
Limiting the number of students in each online discussion to a single quiz section or to 15-20 participants encourages:
- Focused dialog rather than multiple monologues.
- Participation in discussions rather than de facto reading assignments.
- Higher percentage of original postings, reducing redundancy and repetition.
- Less frequent archiving of postings.
- Fewer postings to skim, scan or read.
- Reduced download time.
- Provide structure (for example, discussion questions).
- Assign not only original but also response postings to promote dialog.
- Archive regularly to keep the number of postings in the main window at a minimum.
Will you provide guiding questions or topics for the discussions?
Guiding questions or topics, based on your goals for the online discussion, can:
- Direct students to key issues in the readings.
- Encourage students to make connections between course topics or readings and other issues.
- Facilitate in-class discussion if questions are posted prior to class.
- Continue in-class discussions online.
Will you read the postings, comment, and provide summaries or redirections?
Consider whether you will:
- Respond to each student's posting.
- Summarize the day's postings.
- Provide evaluative responses to student postings.
Consider what role(s) students can have in shaping online discussions:
- Ask students to provide periodic summaries.
- Encourage students to respond to each other on the message board.
- It is helpful to provide examples of good and poor postings for students either in the EPost account itself or on your syllabus.
Are you willing to share your EPost experiences with others?
Please email CIDR (cidr@u.washington.edu) or Catalyst (catalyst@u.washington.edu) with suggestions or examples from your course.
