Threaded Discussions

Threaded discussions are great for using when conversing about particular topics. The most beneficial feature of a threaded discussion is the visuals that are provided. When looking at the discussions you can tell who is responding where based on the lines that connect the replies to the post that is being responded to.

I had a hard time thinking of a way to use threaded discussions in my classroom. Then one of my peers mentioned through the threaded discussion were were having about putting up questions of the day for students to answer.

In my classroom I could post a few questions for the week and have the students respond at their pace. I would have to assist one student in entering his responses, but that would not take a long period of time.

If I use this tool in my classroom, I would post questions such as...
1) What did you do this weekend?
2) What is one thing you learned about last week?
3) What is something you want to learn about this week?
4) What is something you have heard about, that you want to learn more?

I would ask a variety of questions about different things to guide possible units for vocabulary instruction in my classroom, as well as other things. My students lack in world knowledge so this would be a way to find out what they might be interested in to explore further.

I also considered using this with one of my higher students. We usually read a book together throughout the week focusing on comprehension. I thought about possibly putting up some things to think about or questions at the beginning of a unit and have him answer as he is ready. I could then respond to him via the discussion. I think this would also help with his spelling/grammar if I could find a threaded discussion that had an automatic spell check program. He is able to recognize the correct word, but not always write it.

It has some potential that I am interested in exploring within my class. I don't know what works till I try.