Academic-Capital

by Michael S. Miller, Ed.D. You have just begun taking classes online.   It is the first day of the course and because you are extremely organized and have excellent time management skills, you have finished all of the required reading for the week.   It is time to begin knocking out some of your assignments.   It is likely the first one you will tackle is the discussion board.   You think to yourself, “this should be simple, all I need to do is answer a couple of questions.”   Sure, on the surface, it appears that way; however, the discussion board is about more than just answering the questions provided by the instructor.   This is part of why the discussion board may seem elusive to many students. The policies, procedures, and expectations for the discussion board vary from one school to the next.   That is why it is critical that you (not your professor), are clear about how to begin, this sometimes daunting task.   It is rather common that the professor has directed y

Online education and the development of strong interactive forums are important for drawing students into discussions so that they can learn and develop. According to Peterson & Caverly (2005) the online forum should take three theoretical aspects that include social presence, cognitive presence and teacher presence. Each of these aspects affords a more cohesive and developed approach to education. Because education is a social affair, it is important for colleges to develop methods for students to both interact as well as learn. Learning requires a level of social pressure and feedback that can found through both the instructor and other students. It also helps students maintain their momentum in the learning process and find support when it is needed.  Social Presence: Social presence is the group learning process whereby students interact with each other and build a community. It is important for students to have a method of showing their personality so they can