Message Encouraging Students to Use Discussion Forums Instead of E-mail
Discussion forums are commonly used for group start courses, and they also can be useful for individual start courses. Chris Wayne, a UWEO instructor who teaches an individual start class, Fundamentals of Geographic Information Systems, posted the following message to his students:
"These lesson forums are where you post questions about the exercises or textbooks; it is also where I will be posting general class information, news relevant to this course, etc.
If you have a question, post it here. Please do not e-mail me directly, as I will post all responses to questions on this forum as a resource to other students. I monitor this list and receive an e-mail as soon as anyone posts a question or response. (Of course you may e-mail me if you have a particular issue unsuitable for public posting.)
It's not that I don't want to hear from you—on the contrary, I
want to hear what you have to say/ask, and I want all of your co-students
to hear it as well! You will find your fellow students to be a great source
of help and ideas, too! I encourage you to post both technical and conceptual
questions here.
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