I'm still in a state of limbo when deciding whether external discussion groups are an essential tool for online learning. So I am breaking it down it to Positives and Negatives.
Positives-
- You can access expert opinions on subject information from a variety of circles, not just your own working colleagues.
- When I sent out a discussion method I did recieve feedback very quickly, as there always seemed to be someone on line when working with oz teachers.
- When checking out other external forums there was a large number of extra links that you could follow to get to excellent teaching resources, which stopped the need for hours of surfing the net looking for information.
- You were informed immediately when someone added a comment to your discussion point.
- It gave you a sense of belonging to a community.
Negatives-
- I managed to join a number of external forums yet when I went to revist them they had changed structure or their was a problem logging on which created frustration, as I was trying to get to these so that I could screen dump for my assignment.
- By using large discussion groups you effectively block up your email accounts with all of the discussions coming through. I suppose this is when you would need to filter what information you want to recieve, but as yet I have not worked out how to do this.
- Any time their is computer failure you cannot get to the discussion points.
- I have to remember to keep using the same password and user name when using external forums because otherwise it is taking me a lng time to log in and I try all of my different possible passwords and usernames.
- They lack a lot of structure.
So in conclusion I'm still not sure if I like using them. Personally I much prefer to use our USQ discussion forums. They are well structured and easy to negotiate.
Does any one have any tips or comments on how external discussion forms can be made easier to use.
James
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