INTRODUCTION
Because we have few
meetings in person, the discussion boards replace most normal class attendance. You
generally must attend two discussion boards per week, with two messages of 200+
w. each (which makes a weekly grand total of 4 messages and 800+ w. per week).
In these discussion boards, you will use "prompts" (questions) to write half of
your messages each week - about the readings and about general matters
concerning our course. The other half of your messages will be responses
to other students. Full instructions are below.
What are discussion boards? Discussion boards also are known as
bulletin boards (or "BB's"). They are online pages
for posting messages to all others in the class, and for reading their responses.
When you post messages in a discussion board, it is like putting up a message on
a corkboard: usually people are not online at the same time.
Instead, you post messages whenever you
want-- and
read them whenever you want-- like you would add a message on a corkboard or
refrigerator.
How do you sign up? If you have
registered for the course, you are already signed up.
How do you start?
(1) Start by going to the IHCC D2L web site and sign
in using your IHCC username and password. The web site is at
https://inverhills.ims.mnscu.edu
To sign in, you'll need your Tech ID # (e.g.,
00001234) and your IHCC password. If you do not know what these are, there
are instructions on the sign-in page to help you.
(2) After you've signed in, find the name of our
class and click on it.
(3) Once you are in our class's D2L web site,
click on "Discussions" (just below the IHCC logo and name).
(4) Then the D2L page directs you back to this web
page to read the instructions below. You may want to create two windows to
do it easily: one window for these instructions and one for the D2L page.
(5) Once you've read these instructions, then on
the D2L page, scroll down to the beginning: "Week 1," "Week 2," etc.
What is the due date for each week's discussion
boards? It is Thursday midnight. In actual
practice, I accept whatever discussion-board messages and email homework I find
when I look at them. I look at them once a week sometime after Fri. noon.
How long is discussion-board class supposed to take? The length of each bulletin-board
class is supposed to be about the same as a regular 50-min. class in a building.
However, I am unable to determine your BB attendance time by the clock.
Instead, I determine it by how many words you write--the length of your
bulletin-board messages. Each message must be 200+ words, and there are
two to four messages to write each week.
How can you make up late discussion boards?
For starters, all discussion board messages may be up to one week late in Weeks
1-15. After that, you can do the late discussion messages as extra credit as
follows. Please send discussion board make ups by following
these three steps:
-
Add the messages you need to the
real discussion boards in the weeks you need them.
-
Then copy just your own messages
(not other people's), box and all (or as much of the box as you can get copied:
i.e., all the info in the box). (Why? This is
so I can see that you have put each message on the BBs before sending them to
me.)
-
Then paste each set of messages into an
email and send the email to me, with the proper heading or note at the beginning
telling me what it is you are sending, who you are, what week it is for, etc.
In the subject line, tell me why I'm getting the email.
(See "2" below for what to put in the subject line.)
-
Tell me how much time you spent writing and
posting the messages.
Please send everything in-text--in
the text of your email itself--not attached (unless otherwise instructed).
That means you should simply write them as an email message or, if you already
have them on a word processing file, you should use your mouse and your "Edit"
function to mark, then "Copy," and then "Paste" them into a regular email
message.
Return
to top.
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BASICS--HOW TO DO
THE WEEKLY MESSAGES
(10-15)
STARTING:
Start your
discussions in D2L by first going to our course, and then clicking near the top
on "Discussions." Choose a week and "Set" ("A" or "B") by scrolling down and
clicking on the correct week and Set.
BEFORE YOU START WRITING:
AVOID HAVING AN OLD
MESSAGE POSTED UNDER YOUR OWN NEW MESSAGE!
To help all of us
read the discussions, please avoid letting the message to which you are replying
show underneath your own message. In other words, let only your own message
show--don't let someone else's earlier message be posted again under your own
message. Here are directions for fixing this problem:
1. In the top-right of your D2L page, find your
name, and click on the down arrow to its right.
2. Then click on "Account Settings."
3. Then click on "Discussions," and look for
“Reply Settings.”
4. In "Reply Settings," find the small box
beside “Include original post in reply." If this box is checked, then
uncheck it by clicking on it. (If the box is already empty, then you should
be okay—leave it empty.) And there's one more step....
5. Be sure to click at the bottom on “Save and
Close.”
SHORT SUMMARY OF HOW TO DO THE
MESSAGES
There
are usually two required discussion board sessions or "sets" each week (sometimes just
one): Set "A" and Set "B." If you would like prompts
for how to do them, go to
D2L Questions/Prompts.
Each set -- Set "A" and Set "B" -- has 3 steps:
(Step 1) Determine whether you are doing Set "A" or Set "B." Then, on this
web page, below, read the "QUESTIONS" for that Set.
Then, in D2L, go to the current week and the correct set
and open the message that says, "Click here to start...."
Then click on "Reply to Thread" and type your answer
to one or more of the questions for
at least 200 words.
Then simply click on "Post" to post it. Wait until you see it has
finished posting before leaving the web page, or you might lose the post. (Do
not ever click on "Start a New Thread.")
Hint:
If there are more than 20 messages, you may need to click on the next page to
see the rest of the messages (or change the setting to see more messages per
page).
(Step 2) In the same week and set, skim-read others' messages.
Then click on "Reply to Thread"
(don't click on just "Reply") and write a message to at least three other people
in ONE
message of your own (don't do it in three separate messages, but rather in just
ONE message--with your responses to three people in that one
message). Tell us all who they are: for example, write "To Josephine:", "To Jack:", "To Moua."
This message should also be a total of 200 words or more for all three responses
in one and the same message (not 600 w., but just 200+ w., total).
Be polite, kind, respectful, and caring. If you
disagree with someone, do so respectfully, and reread what you wrote to make
sure your words and your tone will not be misread.
When you are done,
simply click on "Post" to post it. Wait until you see it has
finished posting before leaving the web page, or you might lose the post.
(Step 3) Then go back to the previous week to skim the message that others
wrote in response to you or after you.
Hint:
If there are more than 20 messages, you may need to click on the next page to
see the rest of the messages (or change the setting to see more messages per
page).
(2) If you are required to do two sets ("A" and "B")
in one week, with two messages in each set, then the grand total for your word
count must be a minimum of 800 words or more (with a min. of 200+ w. per
messages).
(Step 4: If after completing the above, you need to add more
words because your responses do not total 400+ w., you may do a "Step 4": simply
go to your message that is too short, click beside it on "Edit," and add more
comments--see below for more detail on how to do the word count.)
NOTE ABOUT AVOIDING
PLAGIARISM: Remember to always give credit to someone
whose words or ideas you are using. If you're using an author's or student's
actual words, be sure to put them in quotation marks (" ") and tell us who
said it. If you're using someone's idea (a book, another student) and it's a
unique idea (not something you can find everywhere), be sure to give the
author or student the credit for the idea.
If you would like prompts for how to do them, go to
D2L Questions/Prompts.
===
LONGER DETAILS ABOUT HOW TO DO THE MESSAGES
Are you unused to message boards, and you want more details
about how to do the messages? If so, here is a much more detailed description of
the three steps that were mentioned above:
Step 1--ANSWER QUESTIONS: First, review the questions on this web page for Set "A" or
Set
"B." Read the questions
and choose one or more to answer.
Second, in D2L, go to the current week, find the
correct set ("A" or "B "), and open the message that says, "Click here to
start...."
Third, What questions do you want to use? You can
remember them by going back and forth between the two web pages (this web page
and the D2L web page), or by copying your questions to your message's beginning
using "copy-paste."
Fourth, answer one or more of the questions. Be sure
to write at least 200 words in each message, or you won't get credit for the
message.
Fifth, mark your entire message and choose a font
style and font size for it: make sure it is at least 10 point so it can be
easily read by others.
Then simply click on the little box that says "Post" to post it
to the discussion. Wait until you see your message has finished posting before
you leave the web page, or you might lose your message. (Do not ever
click on "Start a New Thread.")
Hint:
If there are more than 20 messages, you may need to click on the next page to
see the rest of the messages (or change the setting to see more messages per
page).
--------
Step 2--RESPOND TO 3 PEOPLE: Then, in that same set of messages, you
should also skim other people's messages to see what they have
said.
Once you've done that, then click on "compose"
again, and type a response to three different people in just ONE
message (Do not have three different messages for three different
people.) If there aren't three people in the messages, yet, then you may also reply to
yourself.
In other words, start your second message simply by reading several
or more of any of the messages from others. As you read, use a separate
piece of paper (or a Word doc) to write the first name of each person to whom you want to respond, along with a few notes about what you want
to say. Then, to start your own message, click on "Compose." Please remember to respond to at least
3 different people, and to do it in just ONE message (not three).
As
you write your message to the three people, please tell us all who they are:
for example, write "To Josephine:", "To Jack:", "To Moua:", etc. Then after each,
write your individual response to that person. Be sure to write at least 200
words in each message, or you won't get credit for the message.
When you are done,
simply click on "Post" to post it. Wait until you see it has
finished posting before leaving the web page, or you might lose the post.
Hint:
If there are more than 20 messages, you may need to click on the next page to
see the rest of the messages (or change the setting to see more messages per
page).
While
creativity is not a requirement, the more original you are in your response
(rather than just saying, for 200+ w., "Cool, I agree, That's what I think,"
etc.), the more enjoyable you will find using the discussion boards, and the
more interesting the discussion boards will be to others, as well. Remember
that it is fine to disagree as long as you do so respectfully and in a caring
way. If you are disagreeing with someone, it is especially important to
reread what you have said to see whether it sounds warm and respectful--and if
not, then you should revise it. A few ways to state your own thoughts are to suggest
another way of thinking: "I
also think," "Another thing to add to this is...," "I agree but believe, too,
that...," etc.
(Step 3--READ AN OLDER WEEK : And finally, you may want to go back briefly to
the most recent older week of the discussion boards, for that set of messages,
and read what people said after you left the discussion boards in that
week--especially if anyone responded to one of your messages.)
Hints:
(1) If there are more than 20 messages, you will need to click on the next
page to see the rest of the messages. (Or you can reset the "20 messages per
page" function to "50 messages per page.")
(2) Remember that if there aren't 3 people on the
discussion board, yet, you may also reply to yourself.
(3) The total number of messages you write in the
current week usually will be four, each of them 200+ words in length. This
means a grand total in a typical week of 800+ words and four messages. In
a few weeks, there will just be two messages (and a grand total of 400+ words)
to write. And in some weeks, there will be nothing to write.
(4) If you are a
beginner at discussion boards, I strongly recommend that you keep these
directions available on a separate web page all the time in the first several
weeks, ready to look at them as you write your messages.
If you run into
problems, check the "D2L FAQs" section below, on this page. It can be very
helpful for basic, common questions. If you read the D2L FAQ's and still can't get an answer, please do give me a
call (612-870-7024) or send me an email.
--------
(Step 4: Have you checked the
length of the messages you just wrote for the current week? Are they all 200+
w.? You can check quickly, if you want, by copying your message and
pasting it into a Word document, and then looking for the word count in the
lower left corner of the Word documet. Then, if your messages are too short,
you can go back into them by clicking on the arrow beside the title of your
reply, and then choosing "Edit" to add more length. Speak
freely and offer some thoughts off the top of your head, and you'll usually end
up contributing something to the conversation--either something new or something
in support of what others are saying.)
---
TALKING AS AN ACADEMIC COMMUNITY
http://www.richard.jewell.net/AcademicCommunity.htm
Dear members
of the class,
Good academic behavior on
the bulletin boards is like good academic behavior in a physical classroom.
Sometimes people writing bulletin board messages forget this, but it is of great
importance. To make these boards work well for everyone, we must treat each
other with respect, caring, and balance.
There is also a tendency
sometimes for people to think that bulletin boards are a place to complain--to
or about each other, the assignments, or even unrelated events--but they are
not. Rather, the bulletin boards are a place--as in a regular
classroom--to stick to the topics at hand.
If you have a problem with
someone in class or feel you have been unfairly treated or hurt by someone on
the bulletin board or elsewhere, let me know, but do it by email, phone, or in
person. If you have a question about why the class is being run the way it
is, then keep it at that simple level--a polite question--and ask me
privately--again by email, phone, or in person. This is only good academic
ethics and polite behavior, just as in a regular, physical classroom at school.
Please do not use the
bulletin boards as a place for emotional disagreements. In particular, be
careful of the words you use and how you put them together in sentences, as they
might have an emotional message that you did not intend. Reread what
you've written before sending it. Show respect to other students and to
me. Stick to the topic, and try to be kind to others. And be willing
to disagree with each other as long as you do so respectfully in a balanced,
caring way.
Please read a longer
statement, "Talking as an Academic Community," by clicking here on
http://www.richard.jewell.net/AcademicCommunity.htm.
You also can find it by
going to the home page of the course Web site, and then to the "Bulletin Boards"
section.
I appreciate your serious
attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
Richard Jewell
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D2L FAQ'S--FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT DISCUSSION
BOARD CLASSES
The Questions:
Here are
the questions. To see answers, scroll down.
(1-15)
