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Building confidence in using online forums
Building confidence in using online forums

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2 Managing barriers that may reduce contributions to online forums

In a recent study, students identified some of the concerns they have in contributing to online forums (Griffin and Roy, 2019). Some of these concerns involved the behaviour of other students on online learning forums. A selection of these comments is shown in Figure 1.

Described in long description.
(Source: Survey responses for the study reported in Griffin and Roy, 2019)
Figure 1 What six students reported about online learning forums
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Comments displayed in speech bubbles from people who have used online forums.

Student A: ‘Words can be taken the wrong was as voice, body language not seen/heard.’

Student B: ‘there was one student in my group who made some personal and hurtful remarks to me (on the forum). I think she had not read or maybe understood what I said in the discussion, but I found that pretty disturbing.’

Student C: ‘I didn’t like it when another student contradicted one of my comments in a patronising manner as this knocked my confidence in posting much else.’

Student D: ‘Dominated by a few students who seemed to be sat on top of the computer with the most detailed answers to the tutor group activities, this made me feel a less intelligent student.’

Student E: ‘These forums always make me feel stupid an I avoided them like the plague. The occasions we were asked to use them and leave comments would create great anxiety for me. I always found ‘perhaps unfairly’ that people used them to show off how unbelievably intelligent they were. This made me feel inadequate and inferior.’

Student F: ‘I always felt that I was not up to the same standards as the other students and I didn’t have a lot of confidence in my abilities. When I looked at the forum it would knock my confidence to see that people were seeing things I wasn’t and were further ahead than me.’

Figure 1 What six students reported about online learning forums

Activity 3 What about you?

Timing: Allow about 10 minutes
  • Do any of the statements resonate with you in any way?
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  • Why have you identified these particular statements?
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Discussion

Some of the statements may mirror your own perceptions of contributing to forums. Others may be opinions that are either less relevant to you or you had not considered previously. You may enjoy participating in forums and believe that it helps you to articulate your own understanding further. Or you may, as Student E notes, avoid them ‘like the plague’.

These statements demonstrate that everyone has very different feelings and opinions about participating in and contributing to forums. This understanding is important because it can be a first step in reflecting on the use of forums. It can also help you to overcome any barriers which may prevent you from getting the most out of the online forum experience.