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Forums

Forums are online discussions.
Unlike face to face discussions, posts to a forum can happen at different times and places, giving you time to think and research.

Key Terms:
  • Thread-Many forums allow for multiple topics or threads. Each thread can have its own page of replies
  • Attachment-At the bottom of every forum post you can add a file (the size depends on the forum settings, but it could be any type of file; image, video, document, etc.)
  • Subscription-When you post to a forum you will be given the option to subscribe. That means you will receive emails of the posts
  • Daily Digest-In your profile you can select to receive one email per post in subscribed forums OR a single email a day with all of the posts.
  • News Forum-Only teachers can post in the news forum. All students are subscribed to the news forum
  • WYSIWYG editor-Firefox and Internet Explorer show you a full editing toolbar when writing a post. This is called a What You See Is What You Get editor. Other browsers will only show you a text box.
You have a period time after you post to review and check for errors. After that you can't edit your post.

Tips for good forum posts and replies
  • Create a good subject line that describes/summarizes your post (when you reply feel free to change the subject line)
  • Use evidence (add links to your sources if they are online)
  • Respectfully disagree-argue with the idea not the person
  • Constructively agree-While saying "Nice post" is friendly it doesn't add a lot to the discussion. Try to find something specific in the post you agree with or liked and EXTEND or EXPAND on that idea with your own thoughts and examples


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