A word about Discussion Board Postings

A Word About Discussion Forum Postings and Your Discussion Forum Rubric

Discussion Forum participation is vital to your success in this course, not only to clarify your understanding of content in the course, but also to help you develop a strong learning community that will interact in a way that enhances your skills and expertise as you move through the course. 

Assessing your discussion forum posting will be equally dependent upon the quality and the quantity of your contributions--both to small group discussions and all-peer discussions.

Good discussion contributions are outlined below and will be utilized to consider and weigh your discussion board grade:

  • The goal is to have a dynamic and meaningful discussion, not simply post and respond to others. In a lot of ways, the online environment allows you to thoughtfully weigh and consider your classroom contributions more deeply than improvisational discussion in the real-time classroom environment. 

  • Your posts and responses should be thoughtful and considered, but also brief and to the point. "More length" doesn't necessarily mean better; additionally, posting simple agreement or disagreement is inadequate. You should support your contributions with observations, reflections, references, experiences and so forth, but be specific to the needs of the question and the overall discussion. Keep in mind that others are reading what you write. If you'd like to post video and audio, that's ok too, and is encouraged--especially in your group cohort discussion boards. 

  • Make certain to address the discussion prompt(s). This does not mean you should not extend the topic, but do not stray from the topic. Add useful information (like website links or articles) when you feel it appropriate, and include any necessary citations.

  • Discussions occur when there is dialogue. So it is crucial that you read the posts of ALL of your classmates in a particular discussion so that you're not repeating information that others have said, but are building upon the posts and responses of other learners to create discussion threads within the discussion board. Make sure you revisit the discussion forum and respond (if necessary) to what other learners have posted to your initial responses.

  • Your contributions to the discussions (posts and responses) should be complete and free of grammatical or structural errors.

  • Remember: It's sometimes hard to discern the tone of text in a discussion board, so when in doubt, assume your peers are writing from a place of kindness and generosity, rather than criticism. When in doubt, ask them "What did you mean here," before jumping to conclusions.

  • This document was partially adapted and revised by Dr. K.E. Ogden of Pasadena City College from the following sources: PBS.Org, "Teacher Online Resources," 2013. Web. and