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Did you know you can save time and effort by starting a Frequently Asked Questions Discussion Board in your course?
Do you get tired of answering the same student questions over and over? Save time and effort by starting a Frequent Asked Questions forum in your course! It is a public way for students to share questions and answers about technical problems they’re having, questions about deadlines, or even clarifying course readings. The more activity in your discussion boards, the more you can build a lasting knowledge base that addresses any question students might encounter. It won’t be long before you can simply say “Go check the FAQ” instead of staying up on Sunday night answering redundant emails from frantic students.
You can incentivize participation by letting students know they can get extra course points for participating in the help forums (either by asking or answering questions). By giving helpers and “helpees” equal points for using the forums, you remove the stigma of asking for help while motivating classmates to spend their precious time and energy being good Samaritans.
I gave students clear guidelines for the quality of questions and answers I was willing to reward, and which ones were obvious ploys for some free points. Then I quietly smirked to myself as they frantically gave and received help on a range of topics so they could get that “free” 5% in my course.
Technologically, you might look into using Google Groups or even Edmodo.com as tools to serve as a discussion board.
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