One of the challenges of online classes is engaging in meaningful discussion with your classmates. In face to face classes, it's somewhat easy... we have discussions in the larger classroom, some people contribute lots, others little, the instructor adds to the conversation and may call on others to contribute, but there is a clear cut way to participate and engage. Of course, those who are reluctant to participate typically have an easy out by remaining silent.

Online classes are different. We don't meet face to face, so all of our discussions are online, typically in threaded discussion boards. An additional aspect of the online environment that makes it even more challenging for some (you know, the quiet ones or those less likely to contribute in a face to face class) is that you don't have an option to evade or not share in an online class. Well, you have an option, but there are consequences (which impact your overall grade) for choosing that option. In my classes I add the element of preventing you from reading the posts and comments of your peers until you've contributed your post to the discussion. Only after that can you see what others have said and read posts. With that in mind, it's important to know what is expected of you when you do participate in discussions.

In each discussion, you have two kinds of posts - Main Posts and Value Adding Posts. Each have different expectations.

MAIN POSTS: These are your primary answers or responses to the discussion prompt. Depending on the discussion (read the instructions to verify) they will either be a VIDEO RESPONSE or WRITTEN RESPONSE. Regardless of the response type, consider it the more thoughtful equivalent of what you'd say if you were called on in class. Why more thoughtful? You have time to prepare. Because you are participating in the class in an online forum rather than face to face, your answers should be a little more thought out and should include text or source support where relevant. Note that you should be focusing on course material to support your responses.

When a WRITTEN RESPONSE is required, your main post should typically be one or more well-written paragraphs responding to each question asked. Most discussions will require the application or citation of course material to demonstrate you've read and understand the material. Even when your main post doesn't require course material, your response should never be given short shrift, meaning you should always give a reasonable and well-thought-out response.

Make sure you review the grading rubric for each of your discussions so you are clear on how you will be evaluated. When a VIDEO RESPONSE is required, please script out your video before recording it. You shouldn't read your script verbatim, but it should be clear that you are providing a prepared response that uses course material rather than simply responding in the moment.

There are right and wrong ways to answer your questions when writing your main post. Right responses are those that mix your informed perspective (what you got out of the assigned reading and course material) with support (typically the text) - they are structured and thought out, they demonstrate you've read the material and considered what the authors are arguing.

An example of something you might see in a "right" kind of response is: On page XX, the authors say this happens. I am unclear what they mean because the definition was vague... I'd like to understand this better...

Or: On page XX, the authors discuss XX. If this is true in situation A, how might it differ in situation B? I think that... because... and also... (note - you would see text references in the remaining discussion)

Of course, there are also wrong kinds of posts. Wrong posts are those that don't really address course material or that superficially challenge the course material.

An example of a "wrong” kind of post is: On page XX, the authors say that C is a burning issue. I disagree because I know lots of people who don't even know what C is, so how can it be such a big deal?

Or: The authors argue D, but I disagree because as someone who believes in E religion, it just doesn't fit into my worldview.

VALUE ADDING POSTS: These are your peer responses, which you are required to make in each assigned discussion, though the number of peer responses may vary by discussion. They will be referred to as VAPs in all your discussion assignment descriptions. They are called Value Adding because that is exactly what you are expected to do with your response - add value to the discussion. You add value to the discussion by showing you understand the authors main point, develop and extending the original topic, extend the discussion by taking it into new directions or identifying other course/content relevant ways to apply the main post, or otherwise demonstrate quality and depth of understanding.

How do you do all that? Think about a time you've been in a conversation with someone and all they've said is "uh huh, yeah, um, uh huh..." or "wow, that's nice," but with little else to extend the discussion As you think about that, it wasn't a very productive discussion, was it? Alternatively, think about a time you've been in a discussion with someone you thought really "got it" - whether the it of which we speak was you or your ideas. What made you think that? Was it how they responded to your ideas? The kinds of questions they asked? The way they paraphrased your words and restated them, maybe even applying them to another idea or concept? And maybe how your conversation naturally moved on to other issues that were related in a very fluid motion? Well, that's how a VAP should function.

If your discussion involves text or course material, it should also include citations to and from the text. If it does not, for example, our Personal Introduction Discussion, it should still use the principles mentioned above.

So what does a good VAP look like? I'm not going to post an entire VAP, but I will post one example of a bad VAP and explain why it is bad and parts of a good VAP so you have something to compare it to, similar to the main post information above.

Here's an example of a poorly written VAP.

Thanks for your post. It was really interesting. I learned a lot about XX. Great work, I agree with you 100%.

This is a very poor example of a post. The writer doesn't tell us why the reading was interesting nor does he/she give evidence of what he/she learned. The post is really not relevant; shows no understanding of ideas; does not extend the discussion (in some ways, it ends the discussion); and does not demonstrate quality. Contrast it with the next example:

Thank you for your thoughtful post! I thought your take on XX was really helpful. Since I love sports, I loved the analogy that XX is like a football game and YY is like team practice. I never really thought about your take on CC, I realized the text says BB, but I always thought it was just MM. After reading your post, I now thing XX, but also wonder if you can apply that in a MM scenario as well. I also wonder if ZZ would work, as the text says on page 192, but am not sure if I really get this right. Anyone have any ideas about this, specifically the idea of ZZ as it relates to the authors argument at the top of 192?

This is a good example of what a VAP might contain (though it is only a partial response, not a full response). The participant demonstrates that he has read and thought about the assigned reading and their peer's main post. They provides evidence for their evaluation of the post and use both their own perspective and the course text to extend the discussion. Finally, he posts a good question that invites discussion.

Finally, if you are doing all of your discussion posts on the same day, you aren't really contributing to a discussion. You are simply meeting a requirement. You will find that 10-15% of your grade in any discussion is for spreading your posts across multiple days. Students who distribute their discussion posts across 5 days will earn 5 points, when they are distributed over 4 days they earn 4 points, and so on. The one caveat is that responses that do not add to the discussion (1-2 line responses, responses that don't address course material, responses that lack substance, etc) will not be assigned distribution points.

After reading this, you should have a good idea of the kind of posts that are expected in our online discussion forums. Please make sure you keep this in mind as you are crafting your discussion posts. Finally, make sure you review the discussion grading rubric for each discussion so you are able to maximize your effort.