Sakai: Discussions

Forums

The Forums tool in Sakai allows you to have online class discussions. Discussions are asynchronous, which means participants do not have to be online at the same time.

Forums are one of the most popular tools in online and hybrid courses and can be used in traditional courses as well. Forums can provide opportunities for in-depth student reflection, application of concepts, and peer learning. Forums also add a critical element of student-to-student interaction to online instruction.

Basics

• Sakai 11 User Guide: Forums
• How to Set Up Forum Topics: Video | Handout
• How to Grade Students' Forum Posts: Video | Handout

Best Practices for Forums

• Best Practices for Forums - Our best advice, all on one page
• Forum Questions Used by Durham Tech Instructors
• Forum Guidelines and Grading
• More Rubrics for Grading Forums (Middle Tennessee State University)
• [Three sample discussion forum rubrics (PDF) (from Oregon Health &

Science University) or http://bit.ly/3-sample-disc-rubrics

• Generating and Facilitating Engaging and Effective Online Discussions (University of Oregon)
• Why aren’t your students participating on the Discussion Board? - Tips to enhance student engagement in online discussions

More info

• What do forums look like to students? (video)
• Tips for Students on Using Forums
• How do I stop the flood of emails (after posting in a Forum/Topic)?