Forum: “Talking and listening online”
There is a considerable amount of overlap between chat and forum discussions but there are a number of differences. Whereas Chat requires quick thought and response and favours those with good keyboard skills and takes place within a restricted time frame, Forum gives time for reflection and can handle larger topics and development of ideas within an extended time frame several days, weeks or months.
The forum tool sets up an asynchronous discussion over a specified time period, in which participants can post contributions at any time without having to be online simultaneously. An important aspect of forums is that participants can see and read each other’s contributions - the equivalent of listening to what is said in a spoken discussion.
Because of this higher degree of interaction, a forum is a very flexible tool and can be used for very simple or very complex tasks, as we hope to show here.
Ellinor, studying English in her teacher education at South Trøndelag University College, has had extended practice in taking part in forums. Here is her evaluation:
Forum: a meeting place
The word “forum” is the Roman word for the market-place of a town, and later came to mean its civic centre; the name of the public place where people met has given us the word for the debate that took place in it. In the forum space a group “meets” to have a discussion. Instead of a chair person or a teacher defining and initiating a discussion, a “moderator” sets up a group, a time frame, and a topic.
Writing, reading and thinking – the forum cycle
•Writing can be done at any time within the set time frame
•There is time to read postings (contributions) and think before responding
•All postings have several readers
•No turn-taking to consider as in spoken discussions
•With practice, all participants are involved and active.
The discussion is saved and can be referred back to and can be usefully included in a student portfolio
“Let’s do this again”
In the spring of 2005 Ingrid was studying English in her third year of teacher education at Oslo University College. Her course tutors used forums as an integrated part of a learning process. With two other students, she discussed in a voluntary forum the themes of a novel and how it might be used in English teaching. The forum went on for 4 days and had 31 postings, some of them as long as 600 – 700 words. Here is her rounding off of the discussion:
So Ingrid sees working with a forum as relevant to several aspects of her course work: reading course literature, producing formal texts, and learning how to teach English in schools. And of course it also has relevance to her language development, as a way of feeling inspired to produce large quantities of meaningful written text!
And from the course tutor’s point of view, the online discussion is an invaluable supplement to increasingly short class time with students – as Ingrid says, “to make the most out of “everyday-teaching”!
Read on to find examples and more discussion of using forums in teaching:
Forum: “Talking and listening online”
There is a considerable amount of overlap between chat and forum discussions but there are a number of differences. Whereas Chat requires quick thought and response and favours those with good keyboard skills and takes place within a restricted time frame, Forum gives time for reflection and can handle larger topics and development of ideas within an extended time frame of, say, several days or even a week.
The forum tool sets up an asynchronous discussion over a specified time period, in which participants can post contributions at any time and do not have to be online simultaneously in order to take part. An important aspect of forums is that participants can see and read each other’s contributions - the equivalent of listening to what is said in a spoken discussion.
Ellinor, studying English in her teacher education at South Trøndelag University College, has had extended practice in taking part in forums. Here is her evaluation:
Forum: a meeting place
The word “forum” is the Roman word for the market-place of a town, and later came to mean its civic centre; the name of the public place where people met has given us the word for the debate that took place in it. In the forum space a group “meets” to have a discussion. Instead of a chair person or a teacher defining and initiating a discussion, a “moderator” sets up a group, a time frame, and a topic.
Writing, reading and thinking – the forum cycle
•Writing can be done at any time within the set time frame
•There is time to read postings (contributions) and think before responding
•All postings have several readers
•No turn-taking to consider as in spoken discussions
•With practice, all participants are involved and active.
The discussion is saved and can be referred back to and can be usefully included in a student portfolio
“Let’s do this again”
In the spring of 2005 Ingrid was studying English in her third year of teacher education at Oslo University College. Her course tutors used forums as an integrated part of a learning process. With two other students, she discussed in a voluntary forum the themes of a novel and how it might be used in English teaching. The forum went on for 4 days and had 31 postings, some of them as long as 600 – 700 words. Here is her rounding off of the discussion:
So Ingrid sees working with a forum as relevant to several aspects of her course work: reading course literature, producing formal texts, and learning how to teach English in schools. And of course it also has relevance to her language development, as a way of feeling inspired to produce large quantities of meaningful written text!
And from the course tutor’s point of view, the online discussion is an invaluable supplement to increasingly short class time with students – as Ingrid says, “to make the most out of “everyday-teaching”!
Read on to find examples and more discussion of using forums in teaching:
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•Forum introduction
