Online Forum Collaborative Learning

The use of an online forum encourages deeper reflection by students than working alone or in a face to face situation with other students. This is because students have time to carefully consider their own and other student’s responses leading to deeper discussion and also because the results of the discussion ‘are available for revisiting and reconsidering in a way that cannot happen with more transient verbal conversation. It is possible to “rewind” a conversation, to pick out threads and make very direct links between different messages’ (Salmon, 2002).

• The purpose of the online discussion forum, that is to encourage reflective practice, to demonstrate learning in the workplace and to enable collaborative learning, should be made explicit to students. 
• The value of the collaborative learning that is expected to occur via the forum should be explained to students. 
• The forum must be appropriately planned and organized. Pre-structured threads within each discussion topic should be established to assist students to organize the discussion. 
• Online topics should include a spark in the form of an activity or reading together with positive reflective questions that are to be addressed in the discussion. 
• Facilitation of the forum should be scaffolded to enable students to participate in the forum at the required level. 
• The discussion should be appropriately moderated; feedback should be provided to students, students should be aware that the discussion is monitored and positive input by students should be rewarded. 
• Where online discussion forums are assessed clear criteria for assessment should be established. It is suggested that the criteria appropriate for a discussion forum to promote collaborative learning and reflection in workplace learning in law are the quality of the reflections, evidence of links to professional practice, the extent of the collaboration and written expression.