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Students do not automatically know the vocabulary of the discussion area. It is worthwhile to educate students about the vocabulary and to provide some practice in using the tools correctly. A little language explaining how to start a thread and how to reply to a thread will make the responses much easier to read and to grade. A thread is one topic and new threads are equivalent to changing the conversation in face-to-face communication. In normal conversation, we have subtle and obvious cues to help us understand these changes - in a discussion forum, the only available cue is the location of threads and replies.
The discussion board is an area that houses forums. It is in these forums that you will post for credit on the discussion board. A thread is the initial post to the forum and all associated replies to that post. Threads can be thought of as a single topic in a conversation. If you create a new thread, you are changing the topic of the conversation. Sometimes I will require you to post a new thread so I can read and grade individually. At other times, I expect you to reply to a thread started by one of your classmates. You need to learn the difference quickly to be successful in this course.
You might be interested in reading Reinforce the Vocabulary of the Discussion Board , a resource found in the Teaching Tips section of TWU ID , a set of resources for TWU distance educators.
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