Reading and Posting Messages

To automatically post/read the ELH 540 Discussion Board, please carefully read the instructions provided below. After you have read the instructions, you can send read and post messages to the class by logging in to Blackboard CourseInfo, enrolling in this class, clicking on "Communications" and clicking on "Discussion Board".

What is a Discussion Board

The basic idea is to allow readers to respond to any experiences and reactions to email, seminar discussion, virtual office hours, and/or responses  read in the Discussion Board. The articles support unmoderated discussion about the information pertaining to this class.

Discussion Board is a "hierarchical" subject index. It will provide "threads" of discussion topics that I hope you will make relevant to the course and your own learning process.  The intention is to let the structure evolve.

We will be using Discussion Board  for posting class "events", "dialogues", and "questions" to fellow students in ELH 540. At the minimum all students are  post their feedback to the team learning tasks.  This provides a forum to read and examine what others have to say.

Reading and Posting Messages

Upon entering Discussion Board you will see at least one topic area or "Forum".  Each forum contains "threads", which are postings followed by a series of related comments.  When someone wants to "change the subject" she or he may post a new thread within the Forum.  Another way to think about this is to imagine that each forum is like a textbook chapter, containing several sub-headings relating (sometimes tenuously) to the original theme of the chapter.

Once inside a forum you will note buttons on the right side labeled "expand all" and "collapse all".  This has nothing to do with your waistline or exhaustion over this course (*chuckle*).  By clicking on collapse all, you can hide replies to threads and read only the original postings.

Above the posted threads you will see a number of "options" labeled "select all", "invert", "unselect all", etc.  These allow you to control the messages you see.  For example, you can reverse the order (inverting), or select any/all of your messages in order to collect (arrange in a list only those selected) or remove them.  I urge you to experiment with the Forum and threads.  Doing so will increase both your comfort and your skill in using this valuable communications tool.

You can copy and paste text from your wordprocessor or HTML editor into the text box. This will save you considerable time and allow you to use your editor's tools before posting to Discussion Board. To do this 1) type the text in your wordprocessor or markup your document in HTML; 2) highlight the text to be copied; 3) copy the text; 4) switch to Discussion Board; 5) click the cursor in the message box where you want the text to be located; 6) using Netscape, select [Edit] and [Paste].

FINAL NOTE

Feedback is the cornerstone of our profession.  It requires practice and a deliberation so that it is perceived as a Gift and not as a mandate for change. It is my hope that you will use this threaded discussion forum as an avenue to provide professional feedback with your peers that embody the atmosphere of diversity and shared learning.