Discussion Tools & Technology-Rich Learning
How
can threaded discussions be used in the classroom?
What's a blog?
How can I facilitate effective online discussions?
From forums to video conferencing there are many
different ways for students, teachers, and librarians to communicate
and share
ideas.
Use the following resources on this page to learn about four different approaches to discussions and interaction on the Internet.
- Threaded Discussion Forums
- Blogging
- Live Chats and Video Conferencing
- Netiquette and Safety on the Net
Discussion tools are a great way to actively involve every member of your class in a conversation. Even the shy students excel in online interactions.
Read Literature
Discussion in Cyberspace: Young Adolescents Using Threaded Discussion
Groups to Talk About Books by T. DeVere Wolsey
in Reading
Online (2004, January/February, 7(4)).
Threaded Discussion Forums
There are a number of existing discussion forums and forums with advertising. Before using these with students, you'll want to check them out.
Read Free Discussion Forum Hosting Services (TESL-EJ, September 2003) to see a comparison of free services and how to evaluate discussion forum services.
Discussion Forums
Asiaco Forum -
advertising banners
http://forum.asiaco.com/
Board2Go - advertising
banners
http://www.boards2go.com/
eBoard
http://www1.eboard.com/home.html
Subscription, free trial
Google Groups
http://groups.google.com
Nicenet.org 
http://www.nicenet.org/
Nonprofit, no advertising
QuickTopic - advertising
banners
http://www.quicktopic.com/
VoyForums -
advertising banners
http://www.voy.com/
World Crossing - advertising banners
http://worldcrossing.com/
Yahoo Groups -
advertising banners
http://groups.yahoo.com/
Discussion Software
If you wish to build a bulletin board from scratch, check out the following open-source software options.
Moodle
http://moodle.org/
Discussion is only one aspect of this free, open-source course management system. You must download the software and put it on yourweb server.
phpbb
http://www.phpbb.com/
Open-source bulletin board package.
Technology Integration
There are many existing discussion projects you can join or use to gather ideas. Let's get started by exploring a few examples.
Read
Learning
Through Discussion: Designing Tasks for Critical Inquiry and Reflective
Learning by Karen Ngeow and Yoon-San
Kong (ERIC Digest, EDO-CS-03-06 December 2003).
Go to Writer's Window - Discussion Board. Read their Frequently Asked Questions. Notice their emphasis on safety and their registry requirements.
Read Classroom
Discussions for the Twenty-first Century by Beth DePasquale and
Tom Miller (Technology and Learning,
August 2002).
Read Bulletin
Boards: Expand and Improve Written Communication by Joe Pauley
(Technology and Learning, May 2001).
Discussion Projects
BookSpot - Book Discussion
Center
http://bookspot.com/discussion/
Links to online book discussions.
Dave's ESL Cafe Discussion
Center
http://www.eslcafe.com/discussion/
Specifically designed for ESL students and teachers.
Epals Discussion Boards
http://www.epals.com/tools/forum/
Join on of epals' many special or ongoing discussion boards. All discussions
are moderated, so postings may take a few hours to appear.
Sparknotes
http://www.sparknotes.com/guides/
Study guides each have message boards such as Lord
of the Flies (Use care, not moderated).
Teenlink from New
York Public Library
http://ask.nypl.org/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php
Join a threaded discussion and discuss poems, books or other issues.
To Kill a Mockingbird
Discussion Area
http://library.thinkquest.org/12111/gather/cgi-bin/tkambdis/login201.html
Discuss this novel.
Writer's Window - Discussion
Board
http://english.unitecnology.ac.nz/writers/discussion/home.html
Join a discussion board about writing.
Blogging
In the late 1990s, the weblog or blog was introduced as a place where web users called bloggers could post links, articles, news, and commentaries. For example, the "what's new" section of a website is often organized as a blog. Some people consider online diaries and journals as blogs.
Read A Brief History of the Blog (PDF document) by David Wiley in A. Kovalchick & K. Dawson (Eds.) Educational Technology: An Encyclopedia. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO.
Check out the Annual Weblog Awards page called the bloggies to see some examples of the best blogs.
In most cases, a blog is a web page containing a series of entries listed chronologically with the most recent entries at the top of the page. This organization makes it easy for return users to skim through the most additions. The content of blogs varies from family news and personal ramblings to movie reviews and corporate project updates. The audience for blogs can be personal, family, business, classmates, or the world. Some blogs are created by individuals while others are intended to be collaborative. Many blogs are open to the public, while others are password protected. Many blogs allow some or all users to post comments, add to discussions, or share ideas. Keep in mind that blogging is time-consuming. Most blogs are quickly abandoned.
Go to Escrapbooking: Blogging for lots of classroom integration ideas.
Brainstorm ways you could use a blog in your school library or classroom.
What kind of person would make an effective blogger?
Also, read The Art of Blogging - Part I and The Art of Blogging - Park 2 by George Siemens.
Simple Blog Services
There are many ways to create a blog. If you have coding skills, you can install server software and write your own code. You can also use a script developed by someone else. Finally, you can simply use a free or inexpensive blog service such as Diaryland and Pitas.com.
Blogger
http://blogger.com
Class Blogmeister
http://classblogmeister.com
Diaryland. Great
for free, online diaries.
http://www.diaryland.com/
Earthlink Blogging. Great, but must have an account.
http://start.earthlink.net/channel/BLOGGING/
Edublogs
http://edublogs.org
Pitas.com. Simple
free blogging tool.
http://www.pitas.com/
Wordpress
http://wordpress.com
Blog Directories
Blogarama
http://blogarama.com/
Blogdex. Lists
the most popular blogs (read epinions).
http://blogdex.net/?idx=total
BlogStreet - Top 100 popular blogs
http://www.blogstreet.com/top100.html
BlogStreet - Top 100 important blogs
http://www.blogstreet.com/biq100.html
Eatonweb. Lists
over 14,000 weblogs.
http://portal.eatonweb.com/
Open Directory Project:
Weblogs. Provides links to blog resources including hosting
services.
http://dmoz.org/Computers/Internet/On_the_Web/Weblogs/
Weblogs.com. Lists
recently changed blogs.
http://www.weblogs.com/
Blogwise
http://www.blogwise.com/
Blog Software
MoveableType. One
of the most popular options
http://www.moveabletype.org/
Technology Integration
Read
You
Blog, We Blog: A Guide to How Teacher-Librarians Can Use Weblogs to
Build Communication and Research Skills by Theresa Ross Embrey in
Teacher Librarian (Volume 30, Number 2, December 2002).
Read How to Write a Better Weblog: A List Apart. It discusses techniques for writing in this new format.
Blogging from LearnNC
http://www.learnnc.org/index.nsf/doc/timesaver0501?OpenDocument
Blogging for Librarians
http://eduscapes.com/earth/libportal.html#2
Blogs for Educators
http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/blogger.html
SchoolBlog News
http://www.schoolblogs.com/
Useful Resources and Reading
d2r: an introduction to weblogs by Diego Doval
http://www.dynamicobjects.com/d2r/archives/002399.html
Weblogs: a History and Perspective by Rebecca Blood
http://www.rebeccablood.net/essays/weblog_history.html
Weblog Resources FAQs from Robot Wisdom
http://robotwisdom.com/weblogs/
Live Chats and Video Conferencing
Live activities have their own opportunities and challenges. Chats involve typing messages to another person(s). These messages are logged on the screen in a long list as they are written. Other live interactions such as audio conferencing and video conferencing can use the same software. As a matter of fact, some people, chat, audio conference, video conference, and share files all at the same time!
Chats and video conferences involve students in two-way or many way conversations. These interactions are synchronous. In other words, people are writing or talking in "real-time" as the event happens. Depending on the speed of the connection, there may be a slight delay, but this doesn't generally interfere with conversation.
Pros and Cons
Pros. The benefit of live interaction is the immediacy of the communication. Questions can be posed and answered immediately. You can quickly see the reaction of your audience to your work. It's also a great way to collaborate because suggestions can be provided and resources uploaded "on the fly". For example, a person on one end may be updating a web page while a person in a remote location is providing suggestions.
Cons. There are a number of drawbacks. First, since the interaction is live, the parties must be available. Through services such as AOL Instant Messenger a buddy list shows who is online and available to write, talk, or video conference. Second, the conversations can be overwhelming for people who think slowly or have trouble typing. When multiple people are chatting together, the messages fly by and some people have trouble following the flow of a conversation. This seems to be a problem that can be overcome with practice. The final problem is the technology. Not all of the services work together. For example, you might have a camera and software set up to use MSN and your friend might have a Mac and AOL. The technology can also be slow for video conferencing unless everyone has high-speed Internet access.
Popular Services for Chats and Video Conferencing
Chats can be accomplished through a web-based system or through stand-alone software. In some web-based systems, plug-ins must be downloaded for use with your browser.
Students need skills in using the discussion tools. However, it takes most students only a few minutes to learn the basics. Teach enhancements like adding graphics and URLs to discussions as students become more skilled.
MSN Messenger
http://messenger.msn.com/
Technology Integration
The following resources will provide lots of ideas for using chats and video conferencing in the classroom and library.
Author Chats
http://www.authorchats.com/
Participate in online chats with authors.
Classroom Conferencing
http://www.gsh.org/cu/index.html
Explore classroom conferencing options and activities.
Read In
http://www.readin.org/
Online interaction with children's authors and illustrators.
Netiquette and Safety on the Net
How to Keep Safe in Chat Rooms
http://www.chatdanger.com/
A website on chat safety that explores the dangers of chatting with strangers.
Netiquette from
Indianapolis Marion County Public Library
http://www.imcpl.lib.in.us/netiq.htm
TeenFocus
http://members.aol.com/teenfocus/shannon.html
This is a short story that reminds students about the importance of not giving
out personal information on the web. It would be a great article to read with
the class before starting an online chat or discussion!
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