Forums are more essential than you would think and they can help your students to engage with the courses.
Forums are very useful and play a key role in the online classroom, helping the students connect with each other, and establishing relationships. Online learning forums can be central to teaching. Students are used to interacting online and effective use of forums can be crucial to keeping the cohort alive. Students usually can feel lonely, so contact is crucial to help them stay connected. Forums provide an enjoyable environment for everyone. We can see how forums are useful for online teaching in this post.
Points of view – Icebreakers
A forum should be a place where everyone can come together and share their knowledge; a tool where everyone can learn from others. Students will be able to see the world and develop together from each other’s viewpoint. Students have different perspectives and different points of view. Therefore, they will learn about other cultures by communicating with each other. They can adopt or benefit from the behaviours of others, and make them their own. For instance, start with an introductory post with an ice-breaker type activity (introduce themselves and where they are coming from), then post specific questions or activities at regular intervals (e.g. a Friday Forum challenge each week), and tie them into synchronous teaching (so the forum activity is discussed during the synchronous session).
Peer Review – Forums and Blogs
Students don’t need to wait for the assessment of academics, they should engage in peer review where they can provide positive feedback and question each other in a safe environment. They will comprehend their own mistakes and develop areas by scanning through other people’s journals. If another essay is better and more detailed, they are obligated to take note of it and use it to strengthen themselves. Peer evaluation also aims to improve relationships and to help the students grow faster with further feedback and interaction. The academics are there to track and verify the students’ facts and guide them in the right direction.
Social Tasks
Fun-filled activities, such as quizzes or playing truth or false online games, will help the students increase their retention. A forum would also be a good way of getting students to submit their own quiz questions for others to answer. It also creates competition, inspiring them to better perform and outshine others. Even some students can play games for fun, not for the top spot.
Group Activities
The entire group can take part in activities or be divided into small groups who work together towards a common goal and even become friends. The entire class may also engage in an activity, such as completing each other’s sentences or attempting to keep a story going. Community operations such as these help to keep the class engaged and involved. They’re really a great way of keeping the forum relevant and active among all.
Updates
Forums are places where students can learn and keep themselves updated about current events. They should come together and have a conversation about different subjects, where they can learn about each other’s perspectives.