Forums How to do and how many words and what is substaintile.docx

Forums

During the summer, we will have 10 forums, almost twice a week for some weeks, otherwise, reading one- two chapters a week along with other readings or videos I have for you. You must write a detailed post of 300 words at a minimum in each forum (roughly 10 forums) to the prompt I provide and respond to other student’s posts (100 words minimum to get points) to get the maximum number of points for each of your forum.

Each substantive and complete post is important. If you do not use the readings or the videos for your posts or responses, you will not get all your points.

As the instructor, I will facilitate student discussions but I will not address every single post. In most cases, I might share a related idea, intervene when the discussion goes off-track, or tie student comments together to help deepen student learning.

Consequently, I will not directly answer questions in the discussion area unless they are addressed to me. I will check the forum discussions during when the post is up. Some characteristics I consider to be part of excellent discussion contributions are outlined below.

I will consider these characteristics when assessing the quality and level of student participation.

The total number of forums will be 10. Each would have maximum points of 10. The forums/discussions will be roughly one starts on Tuesday and one starts on Thursday. The forums will only be up for three days. The first day you post your comments in response to the forum prompt. On the 2nd day of that forum, you post replies to other student’s posts for that forum.
Occasionally, I will extend the forums to allow more time, only at special times.
Submit initial post(s) on the first day of that forum, and subsequent responses to the posts of other learners at the second day. The goal is to have a dynamic discussion around the topic that lasts throughout the entire session.
Posts and responses should be thorough and thoughtful. Just posting an "I agree" or "Good ideas" will not be considered adequate. Support statements with examples, experiences, or references particularly from readings or videos. Be brief — keep each post and response to one or two paragraphs. Keep in mind that fellow learners will be reading and responding to you, too.

Make certain that all posts and responses address the question, problem, or situation as presented for discussion. This does not mean you should not extend the topic, but do not stray from the topic.

Discussions occur when there is dialogue; therefore, you need to build upon the posts and responses of other learners to create discussion threads. Make sure to revisit the discussion forum and respond (if necessary) to what other learners have posted to your initial responses.

When relevant, add to the discussion by including prior knowledge, work experiences, references, web sites, resources, etc. (giving credit when appropriate).

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

When the particular forum ends at the end of the three days for that forum, you will no longer be able to comment or post. Ø Length of post (quantity)

You are required to post one original message for each topic (i.e. “replies” to other students do not count in this regard). ·In addition to your original post, you must reply to at least one other classmates for each topic.

Original posts should consist of at least 300 words or more unless otherwise specified

Replies to other students should consist of at least 100 words or more per reply.

Any post that is too short/doesn’t meet the required posting length will receive an automatic zero.Ø Quality of posts

Responses/Posts should be well written and free of grammatical errors. Do NOT use abbreviations or texting language. (i.e. something along of the lines of “IDK...what r u going 2do?” is not acceptable)

Each of your posts (original posts & replies) must demonstrate your understanding of the topic.

Connections between content from readings and assignments should be exhibited.

Relate new information with material covered in the class as well as with personal experience.

Discuss at a critical level – don’t just recite facts from your reading, discussion, or lecture.

Critical discussion includes your opinion of items mentioned, but also includes the reasons you hold that opinion, and why it may be inconsistent or consistent with what you’ve learned. Justify your reasoning with facts. How does what you’re presenting affect present and future situations?

Make sure your postings are RELEVANT to the topic at hand.

If you follow these requirements—particularly the requirement that specifies that you share personal thoughts/opinions/experiences, posts should widely vary—but know that if you post is too similar another student’s post, it will result in a zero grade.

This means that not all postings get automatic 10 points for writing 300 words or replying to others with 100 words. Ø Timeliness

Please be sure to post EARLY so that there something for you and your classmates to discuss.

Because forum discussion postings are supposed to mimic conversation, forum discussion postings must be made on time. Anything posted after the specified due date will not be graded/is not eligible for points.

Forum discussion postings cannot be made-up.