DISCUS: A WWW Discussion Board for the Electronic Classroom

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DISCUS A WWW Discussion Board for the
Electronic Classroom

• Dr. William F. Polik
• Kevin W. Paulisse
• Hope College, Holland, Michigan

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Discus Discussion Board
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The Electronic Classroom

• Organize static course information (syllabus,
  keys to old exams)
• Post course announcements without updating WWW
  pages
• Students discuss homework problems, assignments,
  exams, etc.
• Faculty (and students) respond to student
  questions

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User Interface
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Key User Interface Features

• Available from anywhere using any browser
  (including Netscape, IE, Lynx)
• Formatting, symbols, tables, graphics, and
  hyperlinks without HTML
• Messages in a discussion stored on one page,
  allowing efficient navigation
• Posting limited to students in the class

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Administrative Tools
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Key Administrative Features

• Entirely browser-based (no HTML, FTP, or unix
  knowledge necessary)
• Permissions levels superuser, moderator, user,
  public
• Delete, move, edit, reorder, rename, add topics,
  subtopics, and messages
• Electronic input of class lists

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Discus vs. Older Technology

• E-mail distribution lists (listserver)
• Newsgroups
• Static WWW Pages
• Real-time Chat

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Discus vs. Other Programs

• Most powerful administrative tools
• Formatting, table, and image upload
• E-mail notification
• Messages on the same page
• Limit posting to class members
• Organize static course information

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Ideas for Using Discus

• Course information announcements
• Create class lists (biographies, photos)
• Respond to common questions
• Group assignments, result sharing
• Student discussion of assigned reading
• Student-created homework keys

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Why Use Discus?

• Allow students to participate from anywhere at
  any time
• Include students who prefer to communicate
  electronically
• Allow entire class to benefit from individual
  discussions
• It is easy to set up and maintain

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Acknowledgments

• Howard Hughes Medical Foundation (Faculty
  Development Grant)
• National Science Foundation
• Hope College Department of Computing and
  Information Technology

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More Information

• Discus Home Pagehttp//www.chem.hope.edu/discus
  
• ChemBoardhttp//www.chem.hope.edu/chemboard