The definition:
An Internet forum is a bulletin board system in the form of a discussion site.
Also it can be defined as An Internet forum which is a discussion area on a website. An Internet forum is also called a message board, discussion group, bulletin board or web forum.
Why the OU uses online forums?
Open university uses Online forums because it :
· Make learners feel as a part of the OU community, connecting to other students and keeping them motivated.
· It is a good way for students to work together, rather than individually.. In learning, group working help to promote deeper understanding of a subject and better critical thinking.
· Online forums are a different way of learning from face-to-face methods, and people need to learn how to do it successfully..
What forums can do?
Forums can be used for:
a small group project
contribution from everyone on the course
a discussion with a lot of people
a technical support forum with thousands of people
a tutor-group forum where you keep in touch with just a few people
a forum for discussing hobbies which is open to all OU students
a self-help group where just a few students keep in touch.
Forums might be an important and assessed part of your course, or they might be optional.
Types of activity
These are the several of things people do in forums:
- Social conversation
- Getting and giving help
- Group work and projects
- Discussion
- News and keeping in touch
Not every forum does all of these, and some forums specialize in one type of activity.
Social conversation:
Some forums are designed especially for social conversation or discussing hobbies, but it can also be helpful to chat in course forums. If you meet your fellow students at face-to-face tutorials, this happens naturally in corridors and during tea breaks. You chat, discover things you have in common, find out who knows about what, have a moan together and so on. Obviously social conversation is not the main purpose of a course forum, and the students should be guided by their tutor . But generally a bit of social chat in a forum is an excellent thing, and helps the group to work better.
Getting and giving help:
Some forums exist only for the purpose of getting and giving help. A good example is a computer helpdesk forum. If you have a course forum, you may find that once you've got to know each other a little there will probably be quite a lot of questions and answers. You can by using forum asking for help by explaining your problem, so people who understand your problem and can give you a helpful answer will help you. On the other side you can help other people effectively.
Group work and projects:
Generally this kind of work is done in small groups. For the group work to go well, it needs everyone's participation and commitment-to facilitate the group work-, and a feeling of shared responsibility. This type of activity needs planning and co-ordination, such as:
deciding together how to approach the work
planning a timetable
allocating tasks
commenting on each other's work
chasing up people who haven't done their bit
pulling the work together, and so on
Discussion:
Discussion commonly takes place in larger forums, where there may be several hundred students from different parts of the country. Discussion can help the students to understand the course material, perhaps at a deeper level, possibly to give you practice in academic debate, and possibly to feed into an assignment. To get a good discussion, everyone needs to construct their messages carefully and take some responsibility for the discussion.
News and keeping in touch:
Some forums are used primarily as a place to post news items. A forum can also provide an opportunity to let people know about events that are coming up, what someone has found out about a topic, or what course they plan to take next.
How to help a forum to work
There are four main ways that you can help the forum work well:
· Get involved
· Help people get to know you
· Construct clear messages
· Take some responsibility
Reference
http://www.open.ac.uk/pc4study/communicating/why-the-ou-uses-online-forums.php
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_forum#column-one#column-one
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