Online Learning Instructor Resources

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Student Lounge

image of instructor in front of class
You can invite students to use a discussion forum as a student lounge, and tell students that you won't be moderating this forum. A student lounge has the potential to create community, decrease students' sense of isolation, and channel nonacademic discourse into a separate communication area.

 

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How To

Go to instructions for setting up a discussion forum.

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Best Practices

The following introductory message has proven effective (for a forum titled "General Discussion Forum"):

Use this discussion forum like a Student Lounge to discuss topics with your classmates.
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