Are Discussion Boards Just Busy Work? How To Enrich Your Education Through Online Interactions
After a packed day of family ministry and preparation for Sunday worship, you finally arrive back at your desk at 9:00 pm on Saturday. Throughout your busy week, you remembered promising not to leave your discussion board post to the last minute like last week. However, like last week, other more pressing concerns plundered your best intentions. Glancing through your discussion board prompt with disdain, you think to yourself, “After a full day of ministry, I do not have enough energy to think about the regulative and normative principles! Even if I answer honestly, what does this have to do with me learning the content of the course anyway?” Disappointed, you resign yourself to penning down a 300-word answer that is removed from the practical reality of your present ministry. Through this repeated discouragement, you ask yourself, “What is the real purpose of discussion boards? Am I just doing busywork to convince my professor that I learned something this week? Can this experience contribute something to my online education?”
The scenario above illustrates what many online students experience when completing online discussions. However, discussion boards are integral to online learning and character formation. To that end, below are five tips that you can apply immediately to enrich your education through online interactions.
1. Be honest about your questions and struggles with the course content.
Students sometimes assume that discussion boards should prove what they have learned to their professor. However, discussions are meant to help students understand the content better rather than proving they have mastered it. Discussion prompts are created to ask complex questions that guide students towards applying the course material to their present context. With this goal in mind, be honest about your doubts and specific ministry concerns. In an environment suitable for this kind of discussion, students will be able to learn the course subject together in a personal and practical way.
2. Don’t divorce your present ministry challenges from your discussions.
Students enroll in online education to assist them in their ministry context. This is a value for both Southern Seminary and Boyce College, and we intend that your courses push you deeper into your present ministry rather than distract you from it. If you are stressed out because of an unproductive church meeting, bring this difficulty into your discussion board posts. If you are nervous about teaching teenagers, use this struggle to push you deeper into your course materials. If you find that church members or unbelieving neighbors are asking difficult questions, seek counsel from your online classmates. Like on-campus students, online students come to their education with questions and a common commitment to grow in their service to Jesus Christ.
3. Embrace your online classmates as valuable ministry partners.
Students of Southern Seminary Online and Boyce College Online come from over 40 countries. They are real people who love Jesus and are committed to serving their local church. These are long-time pastors, military chaplains, foreign missionaries, young and eager college students, and many contexts in between. As an online student, you can learn alongside others from various backgrounds, and discussion boards are one of the main avenues for this interaction. Within discussions, you can ask an experienced pastor how to conduct a funeral, hear from an international student about the importance of learning Greek in their context, or glean from the perspective of younger generations who are actively reaching their culture for Christ. By asking and answering questions, you can be a participant in forming Christian leaders around the world!
4. Read instructions carefully.
It should go without saying that discussion board instructions are written for the benefit of students. In most cases, you will find a detailed prompt along with expectations of a word count and a schedule of when initial posts and replies must be submitted. We hope that these instructions will provide clear expectations so you can respond to the best of your ability. In most cases, the students who lost points on discussion boards did not follow the directions. However, if you follow the instructions, you can expect to do well on the assignment.
5. Let the course texts shape your thinking rather than spell out the answers.
Discussion boards are intended to guide students in thinking through important questions. While answering these prompts may require several steps, formal essays are not the goal. Rather, posts should be conversational. While the topics will require interaction with lectures and readings, responses should aim towards personal reflection and application. Therefore, answer as personally as you can, using the assigned readings and lectures to guide your thinking on the topic. After thoroughly digesting the course materials, you will then be able to provide an informed, personal response to the question.
This brings you back to your Saturday night predicament. You are still exhausted from ministry, and your discussion board will not write itself. What should you do? Rather than give up in frustration, take a moment to reflect. Consider the value of the course subject and how you can apply it to your present context. In answering the prompt this way, we hope you will begin to see discussions as a valuable and encouraging part of your online education.
