Lesson 4 - What Should I Expect from Myself?

Introduction

Think about class discussions.  What do you picture? Perhaps your teachers make everyone sit in a circle and participate. Or maybe you sit in your normal class rows and raise your hand. Maybe you are graded. Maybe you get extra credit. Maybe you don’t have to participate at all.

Whatever you picture, online discussions are a little different. First, not everyone works at the same time of day. When you post in an online discussion, you won’t get an immediate reply. In fact, since many online discussions are mostly text, you won’t get the same feedback as you get from seeing other people’s interactions. In addition, students have a lot more control over the conversation. Remember, your teacher is not online at the same time, determining who will speak and when. Anyone can post anything. Finally, in an online discussion, there is a permanent record of what you say.

These differences mean that you need to not only think about what you say, but how you say it. Let’s take a quick look at what ACCESS expects in online discussions.