# 4 Summary of Session 1

In this first session, you reflected on your experience of using online learning forums or considered how you might experience using them. You also thought about how you feel, or might feel, when posting on an online learning forum. You saw some of the likely purposes of online learning forums and how posting on a forum may, understandably, make you feel nervous.

Session 2 will develop the idea of seeing the writing you do for online learning forums as playful writing. This will change the way you view forum writing. It is important to tackle any nervousness you may feel about posting on online learning forums. This is because, as you discovered in Session 1, forums can provide clear benefits for your learning. These benefits are perhaps best summarised in the words of one of the students who responded to the survey for the study on using online learning forums, reported in Griffin and Roy (2019). The student said the forums were:

> an opportunity to interact with fellow students and create a discussion leading to increased interest, understanding and interaction with topics. These are all positive elements that enhance learning and furthermore can help students feel less lonely and isolated in their journey of independent learning.

(Griffin and Roy, 2019)

You can now go to Session 2 when you are ready.

OpenLearn - Building confidence in using online learning forums
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