3 Things You Can Do to Improve the Dialogue in Your Discussion Forums

So, you've got a great prompt? You put the question in your discussion forum and ask students to respond to each other. Then, much to your dismay, most of your students post at the deadline and then rush through and add an "I agree" to a couple other posts. Sound familiar? 

Here are three things you can do to cultivate a more constructive dialogue. 

1. Two deadlines - Give a deadline for the initial post. Then give a deadline for the subsequent posts. This will give students time to respond to others' posts. 
2. Clear expectations and grading method - Let your students know how many points each post is worth. For example, give 10 points for the initial post and 5 points for responses to 2  peers for a total of 20 points. 
3. Rubric - A rubric can give your students clear criteria for the quality and depth of their post. See some examples. In Moodle 2, you will be able to grade Advanced Discussion Forums using a rubric.