The Use of Discussion Boards

I have found the discussion boards quite useful for uploading work (eg English) from home rather than having to always go in to hand deliver it. I have also liked the fact that we can view discussions between others such as the ICT help discussion, and add comments if we are able to help others.

With regards the graphs task that was set, I would have found it easier to have had a more face to face discussion, as its quite a time consuming process having to wait for one another to comment etc, although I suppose if you were abroad etc, then it could be a possibility for completing work.

In a school context, I could see a discussion board being used to act as a communication aid between parents and staff, in which parents could ask questions to the staff eg. when are inset days? and other parents would be able to view and take note, rather than everybody asking. Within the classroom, I think I would prefer the children to develop their speaking and listening skills and have face-to-face discussions as with the time constraints of the national curriculum, I do not feel the children/staff have time to wait for a reply! Instead, I would prefer to have a system in which children could complete their work at home, and upload to a school system which would enable me, as the class teacher, to mark remotely and provide feedback directly to the child. I would also like to use blogs as a means of diary for some tasks, for example, when carrying out an experiment over a set time period or writing a diary of life in the war etc, in which the children could regularly update the blog with their experiences or results while they are fresh in their minds. It also provides the children with a different form of task/assessment which many may prefer, and can be used across all curriculum subjects.

I would be interested to read what others write on the discussion board/in their blogs about possible ways of using discussion boards within the primary classroom.