Practical Hints on Writing Online Discussion Posts

Practical Hints on Writing Online Discussion Posts Basic Notions for the Discussion Board Post Writing If you are a newcomer to the world of online courses and eager to gain your first online learning experience, the first thought that crosses your mind is What is pivotal in online studying? A seasoned student will give you a sound piece of advice to consider online discussion posts, which are also known as the discussion board, to be of the utmost importance. Nonetheless, the discussion board post writing is not petrifying and could be a piece of cake if done properly. The first thing you need to remember is that a discussion board is not the place where you can only get your course requirements. It is specially developed as the channel of communication with your professors and classmates. What is more, that is the exact place where you should seek help and share information on the course. That is why it is strongly advised to make your own posts and participate in other discussions in order to ace the course and to be (or at least to make an impression of) a diligent student. Steps to Follow While Writing Discussion Posts Consider the purpose of writing. Get prepared. Look through the posting directions. Take a stand on the point. Search for supporting evidence. Compile your response. Publish your post on time. Step 1: Consider the purpose of discussion posts writing During the classes, both students and professors have an opportunity to participate in the discussion about the subject and present their points of view. As it was already mentioned above, writing discussion posts substitutes for this participation in online courses. The only difference is that you use your fingers and keyboard instead of your voice! Summarizing this point, you need to keep the language and tone conversational. Post, respond, and facilitate other discussions! Step 2: Get prepared There is no point in presenting some nonsense if you were supposed to conduct research, fulfill any assignment, or read any related information. No one is interested in wasting their time on reading a post with a half-baked idea behind it. Make sure to double-check each and every word or thought you are about to post. Step 3: Look through the posting directions What are the directives? Is it about presenting your personal attitude, res tating the ideas already mentioned, or something else? Pay attention to the related posts before compiling your own one. Step 4: Mind the point. Is there something you want to present or just share with your fellows and professors? Mind the relevance of your point and narrow down the topic. Imprint on your memory the magnitude of the balance and interconnection of the ideas and theories, as well as real life examples. You can ask your professor to clarify any confusing points, but make sure to do it in advance. Step 5: Search for supporting evidence. Remember no evidence, no case. The backup documentation is number 1 requirement for presenting any point. Frankly speaking, it does not matter where you have taken this data from the news, the latest research, your real life situation, or course material. The source is of no importance as long as it is credible. While preparing for the discussion, jot down any valuable piece of information in order to be able to find necessary statist ics but not to rack your brain, trying to recollect it. It goes without saying that your post needs references. Bear in mind to cite properly. Plagiarism is always plagiarism, so make sure to give credits to those people, who compiled the works you are using. Just mention the author/researcher, title, and date. Step 6: Compile your response Hopefully, there is no need to highlight the importance of writing a coherent post, which is logically divided into paragraphs. You may also use the bullet points or a list if necessary. Use word processing software while writing. Moreover, mind to use the spell checker and the preview mode after finishing the post. Later you will only need to copy and paste the post to the discussion board. Follow the rules stated in the syllabus requirements or course introduction. If you need to respond to another post, do it wisely and properly. Opt for posting to make a response, imagining the same situation in the class environment. Would you respond to the same statement if it was made in the live discussion? If you answer positively, then you can move on to writing a discussion board response. If you answer negatively, leave this post and look for another one until you find the one that interests you. Brevity is the soul of wit until it explains your point to the audience. The answers I agree (with XXX) or Interesting are not answers. Make sure to explain why you agree. In addition, there is nothing wrong if you disagree with your classmates position. Just do it politely and support you claim with solid evidence. Theory and practice are not parallel lines, they need to cross. The focal point of the discussion is to apply the theory to the real life. It is better to cut a long story short, providing a personal example, than ramble around theory and pad your answer with meaningless words. You can pass the test answering ABC but fail when it comes to practice. Step 7: Publish your post on time Each and every post or comment should be made on time. If you are asked to start with posting and only then move on to making responses, do it in the required way. First post and only then take your time to respond to the appealing post. The worst thing that might happen to you is the professor who found out that you had failed to meet such an easy requirement. Do it properly and start an intense yet reasoned discussion. You may get additional points for that.