Let’s discuss discussion boards

Natalie McEwan, Contributing Writer

Picture this: It is 11:45 p.m. on a Sunday evening and you are going to bed relaxed. For once, you got all your assignments done way before their deadlines. You are under the covers and about to close your eyes when suddenly you realize you forgot to respond to your classmates’ discussion board posts. 

You jump out of bed, fumble for your laptop and type out the thought provoking, groundbreaking, never-before-seen response that will be sure to open your classmates’ minds: “Hey, you! Great response! I really agree with — insert semi-niche point here — have a great night!” 

Sighing, you close your laptop knowing you can now sleep soundly through the night.

After noticing post after post and reply after reply look eerily similar on every discussion board I have been assigned, I began to think more about what they are meant to accomplish in the classroom. 

If you are in a university classroom today, chances are you have encountered more than a few discussion boards. They gained more popularity when educators wanted to make sure students in virtual classrooms were still engaging with the texts and their peers on a deeper level during the pandemic. 

In my experience, however, discussion boards are shallow. They pale in comparison to an in-person class discussion, and there are far better options for the virtual classroom to accomplish these learning objectives. 

Now, I should make a disclaimer here. I am not an education professional. I do have a lot of experience from the student’s perspective, though. 

Discussion boards are supposedly meant to benefit students and help them engage with the reading on a deeper level by meaningfully reflecting on it. They are meant to help students show up to a discussion-based class more prepared, help them exchange ideas with their peers or help those who are shy or socially anxious get participation points. 

With many students simply replying rehashed versions of the same sentence on every discussion board, however, they often do not fully engage with any of their supposed benefits. This leaves an experience where students are not as likely to take discussion board assignments seriously or remember the discussions as well as those from an in person class. 

As an English major, I am already forming opinions and conclusions by reading a text. I do not believe discussion boards make students any more prepared than they would be by just doing the readings.

Having to pull thoughts out of my head and type them up for a discussion board on top of having an in-person discussion just feels redundant. To ensure I am staying on top of the readings, I would rather take an easy reading quiz over a discussion board any time. 

In a productive class discussion, people might crack jokes, debate back and forth, disagree, bring up new points or share personal anecdotes, but hardly any of this happens on discussion boards. I believe this is due to their public nature. 

Discussion boards almost feel like social media posts — writing them feels permanent in a way speech does not. Ironically, the opposite is true because writing can be revised. While what you say in a class discussion occurs in the moment, a written board post is viewed that entire weekend and can be reviewed or edited whenever one wishes. 

Classmates are reluctant to engage with each other on discussion boards as bluntly as they would in person, with the convention of “proper” written language acting as a restraint. Instead of speaking casually, the posts and replies often follow a script of what a “proper” discussion board post is supposed to look like. 

Now, I will admit, I probably should not be the person speaking on whether discussion boards are effective for gauging participation for shy students. Ask anyone who has had a class with me — I am one of the most talkative people there. 

However, I can name a few alternatives that would help engage people who do not enjoy talking in class. For example, private reflection assignments allow students to use writing to fully immerse themselves in and engage with texts without the pressure to respond to classmates.

Reading quizzes are another alternate assignment that help ensure students stay up to date with course material. In the virtual classroom, breakout rooms are a way to facilitate discussion through a screen, while in a physical classroom, allowing students to turn to a partner to discuss instead of the entire room could help more students comfortably break the ice. 

Even less common assignments, such as asking students to keep a blog or work on a creative project throughout the semester, mitigate some of the awkward pitfalls of the discussion board by giving students agency over what they can create. 

Discussion boards are awkward and surface-level. There are many equivalent assignments that exist to accomplish the same goals in more effective ways. As far as this discussion on them goes, I would be happy to leave these boards in the past.