A discussion board is a site on the Internet where participants can share thoughts and questions with others.  It is a form of asynchronous communication because messages are stored and participants can access them and post new responses at any time.  This can be very useful if contributions are made from different time zones.

Private Discussion Boards

Access to boards can be restricted with passwords to allow only certain people to participate, for example, only students enrolled in a particular course.  These boards can be used for students to share comments with one another and/or with their teacher.  The comments could be focused on questions suggested by the teacher or could be open-ended opportunities for students to share thoughts or concerns.  Teachers can moderate the discussion board to encourage interesting discussions and contributions by all students and monitor the appropriateness of the submissions.  The advantage of private discussion boards over class discussions is that the comments remain posted so students can access them, reread them and respond at their own convenience.  Also, industry experts or graduates could be asked to join in the discussion board occasionally to add new perspectives.

Public Discussion Boards

Students and teachers can also participate in discussion boards on relevant topics that are open to the public.  The advantage of these boards is the opportunity to share views with a globally diverse group of participants.  However, a reduction in privacy and contribution control must be accepted.

Teachers may wish to assign some marks to discussion board participation to encourage contributions.

Examples

Click here to participate in a discussion board for teachers. (no registration is needed)

Click here to participate in another discussion board for teachers. (registration is required but is free of charge)