2.1 Overcoming the barriers to contributing to forums
To overcome the barriers to contributing to online learning forums, it is useful to identify what those individual barriers are. In the next activity, you will consider a range of potential barriers and rank them in the order of importance to you.
Activity 4 What might stop you getting involved?
Read the statements below about people’s barriers to contributing to forums and add a number from 1 to 8 in the column alongside it to show how important each one is for you, with 1 being least important and 8 being most important.
| Reason for not getting involved | How important is this to you? |
|---|---|
| I don’t want to look silly | |
| My posts are less detailed | |
| I am afraid of negative comments | |
| I worry about writing the wrong thing | |
| I am always behind everyone else | |
| I don’t have the time | |
| I feel inferior to other students | |
| I feel pressure to contribute when I have nothing useful to add |
Discussion
You might have found this activity difficult because you may have several barriers which you perceive as being equally important. However, by reflecting on these barriers, you can start to prioritise which of them is influencing you the most. You can then take small steps to address them.
In the next section, you will consider your options for addressing your barriers and enhancing your participation.