Student opinion: Are discussion boards really beneficial?
Hello Stranger. Thank you for your thread! It was enlightening! After reading your thorough response on how convenient discussion boards are, I agree with your viewpoint. … Discussion boards are a common ground where everyone can opinionate about several assigned topics. Discussion boards are a tool to disclose thoughts and dive into notions about the class material. For those who avoid social interaction, discussion boards could be a vehicle to start a
conversation.
On the other hand, learning is an abstract concept. There are many variables and methods that alternate between students. Teachers can assign discussion boards to the class, but it does not guarantee that a student is learning the class content.
After many discussion boards I have done for the past four years of my college career, I have attained personal experiences that shaped my opinion about the topic. Discussion boards have become a way to mask interactive learning, while the most important goal is to hit the set word count.
In my college experience, I would have discussion boards due Thursday night and have to reply to students by Monday night. First, the weird due dates seemed to be a consistent problem. Regular homework has to be turned in Sunday or Monday before midnight. I would have to remember to type a discussion board or reply to my fellow students. A reply does not equal class participation. A discussion board does not require active mental exercise to achieve an ill-formed
opinion.
I learned the art of elongating a small idea into a vain discussion. I understood the power of choosing how to phrase sentences. I became fond of words, especially those that come in pairs or triples. I discovered many ways to say “and,” “yes” and “no” together with another simple word that correlates to the previously stated term, such as “because.” Every word began to hold more weight than the overall meaning of my own reasoning.
Second, the magic of open-ended discussions became tarnished with forced responses. Agreeing extensively to make up for words in a reply distorted my actual intention of meaningful interaction. A simple answer can suffice in a real-life scenario, such as having a conversation where I agree to disagree. Putting a word count to an unnecessary reply forces the empty agreement or disagreement to drag on. Responding to a discussion board is not an interaction but rather a mandatory civility. I never follow up on my discussion board replies. In reality, teachers pressure students, either intentionally or unintentionally, to respond accordingly to their expectations. How does a hollow response receive credit for a grade?
Sometimes, conversations are unnecessary. Small amounts of engagement with the class material and doing the work suffice the need for a discussion. The exception to this is of course when the prompt actually interests a few students, whether the content is beneficial, practical, or valuable or when a certain comradery is discovered among classmates to get the useless assignments done.
Third, discussion boards turned to a visible pattern — the same constricted responses. It seemed like having an opinion of my own became limited. In a classroom environment, those who are brave enough will blatantly communicate their insight. Based on the comments, students will evaluate whether rephrasing their outlook on the discussion is necessary. Only when the teacher advances the conversation, more opportunities arise to practice critical thinking.
Most of the time, online prompt discussions, whether a question or task, could have been more worthwhile. An organic discussion happens when both parties are engaged in the topic.
Discussion boards prompt a vacuum of conversation, where agreeing is inevitable and a limited understanding of content can be written out to a long paragraph. In reality, no one talks like how they write, especially not in a discussion board thread.
Garcia is an opinion writer for the Liberty Champion. Follow her on Twitter