Group blogs versus discussion boards
In order to maximize clarity, I define blog and discussion board here (both definitions are taken from wikipedia.org):
Blog is the contraction universally used for weblog, a type of website where entries are made (such as in a journal or diary), displayed in a reverse chronological order.
Blogs often provide commentary or news on a particular subject, such as food, politics, or local news; some function as more personal online diaries. A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, web pages, and other media related to its topic. Most blogs are primarily textual although some focus on photographs (photoblog), videos (vlog), or audio (podcasting), and are part of a wider network of social media.
(Note: here discussion board is used synomously with internet forum, message board, and others):
An Internet forum is a facility on the World Wide Web for holding discussions, or the web application software used to provide the facility. Web-based forums, which date from around 1995, perform a similar function as the dial-up bulletin boards and Internet newsgroups that were numerous in the 1980s and 1990s. A sense of virtual community often develops around forums that have regular users. Technology, computer games, and politics are popular areas for forum themes, but there are forums for a huge number of different topics [1].
Internet forums are also commonly referred to as web forums, message boards, discussion boards, discussion forums, discussion groups, bulletin boards (but see also dial-up bulletin boards), fora[2] (the Latin plural) or simply forums.
Here is research on comparing blogs and discussion boards. Hopefully it will help you decide on which medium you would like to implement in teaching your course next Spring.
Farmer, James. (2004). Communication dynamics: Discussion boards, weblogs and the development of communities of inquiry in online learning environments. Available: http://incsub.org/blog/?p=3
This article is more acedmic and longer as compared to the other one’s I’ve researched thus far. Some important points regarding the comparison of blogs and discussion boards:
Blogs:
Encourage more in-depth and extended writing than communication by email or through discussion boards
Students can be more creative and unique in the technical design and form of their blogs, while students are fixed on whichever design is implemented with a discussion board
Overall, this article favors the utilization of blogs over discussion boards as a distance educational tool.
Harman, K., Koohang, A. (2005). Discussion board: A learning object. http://www.ijklo.org/Volume1/v1p067-077Harman.pdf
This paper is also very theoretical. The only useful thing I found from this article is the distinction between blog and discussion board:
“Blogs share many similarities with discussion boards (Wikipedia, 2005) but the primary focus of a weblog is upon accessing and distributing content whereas the primary focus of a discussion board is upon discussion or dialog regarding content.”
http://connect.educause.edu/blog/wallen/using_the_discussion_board_to_build_community_in_online_classes/2103?time=1158976242
This blog entry is published by a teacher who uses discussion boards in her classes. By the looks of it, it is probably a high-school or lower-grade teacher. I included it here because you may want to go over it if you do decide to use the discussion board for class instruction. It provides tips on how to get students participate in the discussion board.
posted on The EDUCAUSE Instructional Technologies Constituent Group a description of how I use the discussion board to build community in online classes. Having summarized the experience, I will add it to my blog. As follows:
At the beginning of the course I find that I have to put out a blanket rule about participation. For each discussion topic that I post you will receive three grades, 0-5.
1. On time. I will post the topic on Sunday and you have until Tuesday to post your first response. Do it by Tuesday and it's an automatic 5
2. Substance. I expect the first response to show that you have read the material (or other media), thought about the discussion topic, thought about the problem involved, organized your thoughts, and then posted the results. I advise you to compose this first response on a word processor, check spelling and grammar, and then copy and paste.
3. Participation. You are expected to respond to at least eight posts put up by classmates. Responses such as "I agree" or "You are right" or "I had the same reaction" are automatic zeros. Thoughtful responses that help push the discussion along move up your chances of making a 5 on this part of the assignment.
I'm ad-libbing above--I don't have a syllabus in front of me.
The two things I have found are
1. During the first couple of weeks (maybe 3) there's a certain mechanical aspect to the student participation. He wants eight responses, here are the eight. He wants the first one by Tuesday, here's mine at 11pm on Tuesday. What begins to tell me that the discussion board has taken on a life of its own is when the rules no longer govern the responses. Students really begin to talk among themselves. The board becomes a conversation.
2. I, the teacher, have to hold back a bit. When I taught my first online course I checked the board a dozen times a day and immediately responded to each and every student contribution. That kept me the focus of the class. Luckily, I had a week-long trip around the third week of class. I told the students I'd be gone but that I would check as often as I could. My participation went way down. Student participation--active participation among themselves--went way up. I had removed myself as an impediment to community building among the students. That was an important lesson for me. Now I jump in when something way off-base appears and students don't correct it and I provide a summary towards the end of the discussion.
One of the interesting things I've noticed is that topics from earlier in the semester continue to be contributed to and responded to. The board takes on a certain organic quality--continuing to grow and reflecting things learned in the progression of the course.
BTW, I always provide an "Open Forum" as a place for chat--wedding plans, critical hair problems, why I can't stand such or such TV program or musical group. Perhaps that too helps weld the group. At least it keeps some of that stuff out of the academic discussion area.
One last thing and then I'll shut up. I've left a course active after the semester ended. Guess what? Students come back after the semester is over and grades are turned in and continue to talk to each other (this is usually a small group of students). The course lives on for a bit longer.
http://www.commoncraft.com/archives/000768.html
What are the Differences Between Message Boards and Weblogs?
This article showcases a table distinguishing these two mediums and a description of each category of comparison.
[Note: go to http://www.commoncraft.com/archives/000768.html and scroll down to the red and blue colored table - the table will not copy and paste].
Locus of Control
Perhaps the most compelling difference in weblogs and message boards is the locus of control. Weblogs are individual or small group resources- the control of content and value is driven by a single person or small group. Message Boards are group resources- the control of content and value is shared equally across all users.
Authoring of New Topics
The locus of control matters most in defining who can post new topics, which drive the content of the resource. In weblogs, this role is centralized, with new topics being presented by a defined and focused person or small group. This centralization facilitates focus and direction on behalf of the webloggers. In many message boards, all members usually have the ability to create new topics. This decentralization allows for more emergent and unpredictable directions that may reflect the group's desires as a whole.
Intent
The centralized vs. decentralized nature of the technologies fit nicely into two distinct intentions. With weblog authorship being centralized inside a community, they can easily become news sources, where trusted individuals provide accounts of events and information. The decentralized nature of message boards works well to accumulate group input and facilitate collaboration and group decision making.
Responses
Weblogs and Message Boards both allow for responses from the community- new topics can be responded-to by others. Weblog topics have comments and message board topics have replies. This subtle difference in syntax reveals a difference in the roles. The word comment for weblogs implies that the author does not need further participation to reach a goal- comment if you want. Reply, on the other hand, implies that participation is explicitly requested by the poster. A discussion is not a discussion without a reply.
Tools
The appearance of weblogs has brought a number of new tools to users and most facilitate the ability to read and link weblogs together. They include: Trackback, RSS, Aggregation, Permalinks, Cross linking, etc. While these are currently in the domain of the weblog, I believe they will soon be integrated into message board tools.
Chronology
The order and presentation of topics across message boards and weblogs relate another difference. Weblogs are consistenly arranged with the most recently posted topics at the top of the page, regardless of new comments. With a message board, the posting of replies can govern the presentation of the originating topic- topics with new replies are often presented at the top (but not always, of course). This illustrates the relative importance of replies in message board discussions. Replies can keep a discussion alive and at the top of the page for months or even years in some cases.
Personal Connections
Due to consistent and centralized authorship, weblogs can allow online community members to develop personal connections with the webloggers relatively quickly. Message boards, on the other hand, offer a broader look at a larger number of members as they interact with one another in a group setting.
Pollution Control
Since a weblog depends on a single person or select group, the likelihood of off-topic or inappropriate topics (or responses) is greatly reduced. Further, as discussed previously, weblogs do not depend on responses to provide value. So, in situations where spam or flame wars are a problem, weblogs can turn-off comments and depend on new topics from the webloggers for value. Being group resources, message boards do not have the luxury to turn off replies, but do prevent problems with moderation of each new topic or response.
Content Buckets
How topics are archived and organized provides another look at the differences. Often, each new topic in a weblog is assigned to a category that is used to organize the topics for future reference. A single weblog may have many categories that archive and organize posts that were originally presented on the weblogs’ front page. Message boards are often presented with multiple starting points for creating a new discussion. The member chooses the appropriate location to post a new topic, depending on subject matter. In this way, message boards create multiple “front pages”, spreading the presentation of new topics across locations/content buckets in the community.
Erika,At this time, I think I have gathered enough information on the differences between individual blogs, group blogs, and discussion boards. If you need more information to make a decision between the three, just let me know.
Following are links to websites that can help you get started with whichever medium you choose. Of course, I can go ahead and put it into place if you would like.
1. Using the WebCT Discussion Tool
http://webct.gatech.edu/help/faculty/discussion.shtml
2. Using a group blog (Yahoo Groups)
http://ca.groups.yahoo.com/
3. Using a team blog through blogger: (this is a blog that is started by one person, then other people can be added to the blog as a team member). [Note – this is what I did with this research blog – started it myself and added you as a team member].
http://help.blogger.com/bin/answer.py?answer=41440&topic=8918
If you want my personal opinion, I would not choose Yahoo Groups for your purpose. By using Yahoo Groups to make your student’s group blog, it is put on the web and anyone can join. In comparison, by starting a blog yourself through blogger, you can add each member of the course as team members. Then, everyone can post their own entries and reply to other entries. In addition, you can somewhat disguise the presence of this team blog by going into Settings and selecting “No” under “Add your Blog to our listings?”, meaning that the blog will not be advertised on blogger, but will be on the internet for anyone to see, of course [this is also what I have done with this blog].Therefore, if I were in your position, I would forget Yahoo Groups and use either the WebCT discussion board or a team blog. I’m not really sure which one I would choose. That decision is up to you. As I mentioned before, it does not really matter which one is used as long as the students are enjoying the learning experience. Either medium will be an effective learning tool. Let me know if you would like more information or would like to meet with me to discuss it in person. I will leave you with that. Next time, I will move onto the next area of research for this Grad Assistantship – Language, Culture, and Community in Belize. If there’s anything else you would like me to look into, please don’t hesitate to ask.
Blog is the contraction universally used for weblog, a type of website where entries are made (such as in a journal or diary), displayed in a reverse chronological order.
Blogs often provide commentary or news on a particular subject, such as food, politics, or local news; some function as more personal online diaries. A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, web pages, and other media related to its topic. Most blogs are primarily textual although some focus on photographs (photoblog), videos (vlog), or audio (podcasting), and are part of a wider network of social media.
(Note: here discussion board is used synomously with internet forum, message board, and others):
An Internet forum is a facility on the World Wide Web for holding discussions, or the web application software used to provide the facility. Web-based forums, which date from around 1995, perform a similar function as the dial-up bulletin boards and Internet newsgroups that were numerous in the 1980s and 1990s. A sense of virtual community often develops around forums that have regular users. Technology, computer games, and politics are popular areas for forum themes, but there are forums for a huge number of different topics [1].
Internet forums are also commonly referred to as web forums, message boards, discussion boards, discussion forums, discussion groups, bulletin boards (but see also dial-up bulletin boards), fora[2] (the Latin plural) or simply forums.
Here is research on comparing blogs and discussion boards. Hopefully it will help you decide on which medium you would like to implement in teaching your course next Spring.
Farmer, James. (2004). Communication dynamics: Discussion boards, weblogs and the development of communities of inquiry in online learning environments. Available: http://incsub.org/blog/?p=3
This article is more acedmic and longer as compared to the other one’s I’ve researched thus far. Some important points regarding the comparison of blogs and discussion boards:
Blogs:
Encourage more in-depth and extended writing than communication by email or through discussion boards
Students can be more creative and unique in the technical design and form of their blogs, while students are fixed on whichever design is implemented with a discussion board
Overall, this article favors the utilization of blogs over discussion boards as a distance educational tool.
Harman, K., Koohang, A. (2005). Discussion board: A learning object. http://www.ijklo.org/Volume1/v1p067-077Harman.pdf
This paper is also very theoretical. The only useful thing I found from this article is the distinction between blog and discussion board:
“Blogs share many similarities with discussion boards (Wikipedia, 2005) but the primary focus of a weblog is upon accessing and distributing content whereas the primary focus of a discussion board is upon discussion or dialog regarding content.”
http://connect.educause.edu/blog/wallen/using_the_discussion_board_to_build_community_in_online_classes/2103?time=1158976242
This blog entry is published by a teacher who uses discussion boards in her classes. By the looks of it, it is probably a high-school or lower-grade teacher. I included it here because you may want to go over it if you do decide to use the discussion board for class instruction. It provides tips on how to get students participate in the discussion board.
posted on The EDUCAUSE Instructional Technologies Constituent Group a description of how I use the discussion board to build community in online classes. Having summarized the experience, I will add it to my blog. As follows:
At the beginning of the course I find that I have to put out a blanket rule about participation. For each discussion topic that I post you will receive three grades, 0-5.
1. On time. I will post the topic on Sunday and you have until Tuesday to post your first response. Do it by Tuesday and it's an automatic 5
2. Substance. I expect the first response to show that you have read the material (or other media), thought about the discussion topic, thought about the problem involved, organized your thoughts, and then posted the results. I advise you to compose this first response on a word processor, check spelling and grammar, and then copy and paste.
3. Participation. You are expected to respond to at least eight posts put up by classmates. Responses such as "I agree" or "You are right" or "I had the same reaction" are automatic zeros. Thoughtful responses that help push the discussion along move up your chances of making a 5 on this part of the assignment.
I'm ad-libbing above--I don't have a syllabus in front of me.
The two things I have found are
1. During the first couple of weeks (maybe 3) there's a certain mechanical aspect to the student participation. He wants eight responses, here are the eight. He wants the first one by Tuesday, here's mine at 11pm on Tuesday. What begins to tell me that the discussion board has taken on a life of its own is when the rules no longer govern the responses. Students really begin to talk among themselves. The board becomes a conversation.
2. I, the teacher, have to hold back a bit. When I taught my first online course I checked the board a dozen times a day and immediately responded to each and every student contribution. That kept me the focus of the class. Luckily, I had a week-long trip around the third week of class. I told the students I'd be gone but that I would check as often as I could. My participation went way down. Student participation--active participation among themselves--went way up. I had removed myself as an impediment to community building among the students. That was an important lesson for me. Now I jump in when something way off-base appears and students don't correct it and I provide a summary towards the end of the discussion.
One of the interesting things I've noticed is that topics from earlier in the semester continue to be contributed to and responded to. The board takes on a certain organic quality--continuing to grow and reflecting things learned in the progression of the course.
BTW, I always provide an "Open Forum" as a place for chat--wedding plans, critical hair problems, why I can't stand such or such TV program or musical group. Perhaps that too helps weld the group. At least it keeps some of that stuff out of the academic discussion area.
One last thing and then I'll shut up. I've left a course active after the semester ended. Guess what? Students come back after the semester is over and grades are turned in and continue to talk to each other (this is usually a small group of students). The course lives on for a bit longer.
http://www.commoncraft.com/archives/000768.html
What are the Differences Between Message Boards and Weblogs?
This article showcases a table distinguishing these two mediums and a description of each category of comparison.
[Note: go to http://www.commoncraft.com/archives/000768.html and scroll down to the red and blue colored table - the table will not copy and paste].
Locus of Control
Perhaps the most compelling difference in weblogs and message boards is the locus of control. Weblogs are individual or small group resources- the control of content and value is driven by a single person or small group. Message Boards are group resources- the control of content and value is shared equally across all users.
Authoring of New Topics
The locus of control matters most in defining who can post new topics, which drive the content of the resource. In weblogs, this role is centralized, with new topics being presented by a defined and focused person or small group. This centralization facilitates focus and direction on behalf of the webloggers. In many message boards, all members usually have the ability to create new topics. This decentralization allows for more emergent and unpredictable directions that may reflect the group's desires as a whole.
Intent
The centralized vs. decentralized nature of the technologies fit nicely into two distinct intentions. With weblog authorship being centralized inside a community, they can easily become news sources, where trusted individuals provide accounts of events and information. The decentralized nature of message boards works well to accumulate group input and facilitate collaboration and group decision making.
Responses
Weblogs and Message Boards both allow for responses from the community- new topics can be responded-to by others. Weblog topics have comments and message board topics have replies. This subtle difference in syntax reveals a difference in the roles. The word comment for weblogs implies that the author does not need further participation to reach a goal- comment if you want. Reply, on the other hand, implies that participation is explicitly requested by the poster. A discussion is not a discussion without a reply.
Tools
The appearance of weblogs has brought a number of new tools to users and most facilitate the ability to read and link weblogs together. They include: Trackback, RSS, Aggregation, Permalinks, Cross linking, etc. While these are currently in the domain of the weblog, I believe they will soon be integrated into message board tools.
Chronology
The order and presentation of topics across message boards and weblogs relate another difference. Weblogs are consistenly arranged with the most recently posted topics at the top of the page, regardless of new comments. With a message board, the posting of replies can govern the presentation of the originating topic- topics with new replies are often presented at the top (but not always, of course). This illustrates the relative importance of replies in message board discussions. Replies can keep a discussion alive and at the top of the page for months or even years in some cases.
Personal Connections
Due to consistent and centralized authorship, weblogs can allow online community members to develop personal connections with the webloggers relatively quickly. Message boards, on the other hand, offer a broader look at a larger number of members as they interact with one another in a group setting.
Pollution Control
Since a weblog depends on a single person or select group, the likelihood of off-topic or inappropriate topics (or responses) is greatly reduced. Further, as discussed previously, weblogs do not depend on responses to provide value. So, in situations where spam or flame wars are a problem, weblogs can turn-off comments and depend on new topics from the webloggers for value. Being group resources, message boards do not have the luxury to turn off replies, but do prevent problems with moderation of each new topic or response.
Content Buckets
How topics are archived and organized provides another look at the differences. Often, each new topic in a weblog is assigned to a category that is used to organize the topics for future reference. A single weblog may have many categories that archive and organize posts that were originally presented on the weblogs’ front page. Message boards are often presented with multiple starting points for creating a new discussion. The member chooses the appropriate location to post a new topic, depending on subject matter. In this way, message boards create multiple “front pages”, spreading the presentation of new topics across locations/content buckets in the community.
Erika,At this time, I think I have gathered enough information on the differences between individual blogs, group blogs, and discussion boards. If you need more information to make a decision between the three, just let me know.
Following are links to websites that can help you get started with whichever medium you choose. Of course, I can go ahead and put it into place if you would like.
1. Using the WebCT Discussion Tool
http://webct.gatech.edu/help/faculty/discussion.shtml
2. Using a group blog (Yahoo Groups)
http://ca.groups.yahoo.com/
3. Using a team blog through blogger: (this is a blog that is started by one person, then other people can be added to the blog as a team member). [Note – this is what I did with this research blog – started it myself and added you as a team member].
http://help.blogger.com/bin/answer.py?answer=41440&topic=8918
If you want my personal opinion, I would not choose Yahoo Groups for your purpose. By using Yahoo Groups to make your student’s group blog, it is put on the web and anyone can join. In comparison, by starting a blog yourself through blogger, you can add each member of the course as team members. Then, everyone can post their own entries and reply to other entries. In addition, you can somewhat disguise the presence of this team blog by going into Settings and selecting “No” under “Add your Blog to our listings?”, meaning that the blog will not be advertised on blogger, but will be on the internet for anyone to see, of course [this is also what I have done with this blog].Therefore, if I were in your position, I would forget Yahoo Groups and use either the WebCT discussion board or a team blog. I’m not really sure which one I would choose. That decision is up to you. As I mentioned before, it does not really matter which one is used as long as the students are enjoying the learning experience. Either medium will be an effective learning tool. Let me know if you would like more information or would like to meet with me to discuss it in person. I will leave you with that. Next time, I will move onto the next area of research for this Grad Assistantship – Language, Culture, and Community in Belize. If there’s anything else you would like me to look into, please don’t hesitate to ask.
posted by Brad | 8:00 PM
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