Welcome to [name of class]! We will use [name of course management tool] for many reasons, one
of them being the discussion board. As I communicated in class, the [name of course management tool] discussion board allows us to have “discussions” that we would not be able to have in class due to time constraints or proximity. The discussion board also gives us a forum to:
- Pose questions to the entire class and view the feedback received from class members
- Access questions and responses posted by others
- Receive instructor-posted announcements to the entire group and
- Provide interesting, course-related and off-topic information to everyone
- I have created several discussion board topic categories so that we can stay organized. Make certain that you are posting your message under the correct topic heading. For example, if you are asking a question about homework assignment #1, problem #2 from chapter 1 of our textbook, post your question under the topic labeled “Chapter 1, Assignment 1.” If you don’t do this, we will have a hard time trying to find the information that we need and the amount of random messages will become overwhelming.
- Remember that EVERYONE has access to anything posted on the discussion board. If you need to discuss something privately with me, send me direct email or contact me by phone or office visit.
- No question is a stupid question. Post all non-private questions that you have to this discussion board before contacting me offline. I am almost certain that someone else in our class will benefit from your question and any response you receive.
- Make sure your language and content is appropriate for posting. Reword or edit anything that you suspect might offend even one of your classmates.
- Spell and grammar check for ease in readability.
- Do not type in all caps. THAT INDICATES THAT YOU ARE SHOUTING AT YOUR CLASSMATES.
- Make sure your responses to posting are adding value to our message board; do not post messages that simply contain phrases such as, “I agree with Billy” or “me too” or “Dido”. You may, however, include those phrases and then an explanation as to WHY you agree or disagree.
Use this discussion board! It is a resource for you to get feedback and to share ideas
and it can add value to our course experience together.
Sincerely,
Your Professor
