We're now on the second day of the first week and have been discussing 'stories from the dark side of e-learning'. The real aim of the exercise seems to me to be discussing the use of discussion boards and to create some sense of community. As such, I think the first results are good.

Looking around the internet for some guidelines on the use of online discussion boards I came across one interesting site with the title Online Pedagogy and Engagement. With the following:

Best Practices in Asynchronous Communication

• Inform learners of your expectations for how these tools will be used as part of the course.
• Create a “Tell About Yourself” Discussion Area. Post information about yourself and the course initially. Ask students to do the same. Your use of the tool models an appropriate use of it and provides students with the initial prompt to begin a discussion. This exercise will also reveal if students are having difficulty understanding how to post or reply to a message.
• Focus the discussion by carefully preparing questions in advance.
• Provide discussion board participation guidelines to students, including instructor expectations and rules of conduct.
• Monitor the discussion or assign a student monitor to keep learners focused on the topic.
• Oversee the quality and regularity of the postings. If learners appear to post late (when you have already gone on to another posting), do not participate, or post non-substantive messages, communicate with that student privately.
• Consider asking students to facilitate discussions in specific content areas where they may have particular expertise or where expertise needs to be developed. Having a student lead the discussion can lead to the student preparing in advance with relevant issues and information.
• Provide a summary of the discussion before moving on to a new thread.

Online pedagogy and engagement, http://www.gadsdenstate.edu/academics/elearning/online_pedagogy.php (accessed September 20, 2010)

It looks like the IDEL team is following most of these guidelines.

Another, similar but much shorter set of guidelines comes from a reference by one of the participants (I should mention his / her name but finding stuff back in the many threads is too much of a hassle):

• Require students to participate
• Grade student efforts
• Involve learning teams
• Structure discussions
• Require a hand-in assignment (a deliverable)
• Pose questions and scenarios that require learners to use their own experience
• Relate the discussion to course objectives

Margie A. Martin (2005), Using Interaction in Online Discussion Boards, Educause Quarterly, nr. 4,
http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/EQM05410.pdf (accessed September 21, 2010)

Again, the IDEL team is following best practices.

I find the experience in WebCT's discussion boards suboptimal since you have to jump from message to message and don't have a real feel for the flow of the discussion. A blog post with threaded comments would be better to get a feel for the flow. In the six cases there are already a total of 50 posts (today, 4:46 pm Bremen time).

The most interesting posts so far are those relaying experiences with similar tools. My own experience is very limited. Haven't been teaching for more that 20 years and been on the support side ever since. If I look at how most teachers use DLEs, it is mostly as a fileserver, for uploading the slides from their lectures.