The threaded discussion forum generates an active approach to discussion by minimizing the role of the professor and affording the students ownership of the direction of the topics.  More specifcially, conversations are not lead solely by the professor.  Instead, students may initiate questions and responses on their own while the instructor serves as moderator.  In this way, I hoped to lead the students to a deeper level of conversation while at the same time being able to clarify or correct content errors.  Below are some examples of the different ways I have utilized the threaded discussion format.

Horizontal Communication for Discussion. The way in which the WCB message list is designed helped me visualize that my goal of horizontal communication had been achieved. Ironically, I was looking for and achieved "controlled chaos" meaning that everyone felt free to interject his or her own ideas at will. Although the comments were not submitted simultaneously in real time, the message list gives the impression that the whole class is sharing ideas at the same time. This one aspect made my experiment successful in contrast to previous years when I felt that I alone was engaging a single student at a time, often overlooking someone who may have had a good idea, allowing others to monopolize conversation, and letting still others blend into anonymity.
 

Linear Communication as a Review Tool. Although my main goal was to remove the direct and limited professor-to-student type of query, I nevertheless found the WCB helpful as a review tool. In other words, this was the exact opposite type of thread. In these instances, I would post one question to which all were required to respond. These were generally unit review questions that took the place of a quiz. More importantly, when it came time to review for the Mid-Term and Final Exam the entire class had access to a fellow student's answer.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Prolongs Previous Discussion. The Web-forum undoubtedly extends our conversation beyond the classroom. Shortly into the semester I sought the students' reactions to the forum. Although not meant as a complaint, one responded "It's like having two classes now." I stressed to the students however that I preferred to see it as one continuous class instead of 24 Tuesday-Thursday sessions. Essentially, that is what the forum provided for me. It brought the material together as a course in contrast to separate or disjointed class sessions. Follow up questions and comments served to summarize the topic before moving on. In short, as an umbrella for the entire course, it gave the material continuity.
 
 

Anticipates Direction of Discussion: The forum also helped me anticipate the student reaction to a given assignment. Since I had a clearer understanding of their views and opinions, I could make critical adjustments. For example, some readings that in my opinion were intriguing elicited few comments, whereas others that I judged to be somewhat straightforward evoked a wide scope of controversy, ranging from gender views to ideological differences. I would have probably missed this opportunity if not for the forum. Furthermore, when we hit a lull and no one volunteered to comment, I "knew" that they had something to say because I always brought a printed copy of the archive with me to class. I could then call on a specific student to restate and expound on his premise. This decreased my frustration with lulls of silence and also made better use of class time.
 

Interactive Potential: Perhaps the most obvious advantage to the Web-based forum is the capacity for interactivity. As we discuss a particular topic, I can incorporate meaningful multimedia attachments. In one case for example, I attached this image of a Spanish Civil War poster.
 

I asked the students to arrive at their own conclusions, and then we invited an expert from Spain to join in the discussion. Additionally, since the WCB forum is URL aware--meaning that it automatically makes a link active--the students often use the forum to share the addresses of interesting sites that they have found on the Web independently from our class assignments.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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