Discussion Boards...

I am not an avid user of discussion boards, though I have been in the past. Therefore, my experience of them has been distinctly music/movie/celebrity/craft related; I was discussing interests and hobbies, and it was a choice. The thought of using a discussion board in Primary education is, to me, an interesting one. I don't know how I'd react to being asked by a teacher to spend my own web-surfing time to post some thoughts a subject of their choosing. But then, I cam to university and had to do just that.

In education, the discussion board can be used effectively when tutor-student-peer communication is not very regular, as at university. However, in 5-day week primary timetable, I don't know how efficient setting up a discussion board would be. The teacher would have to moderate it frequently and carefully and that's just making more work for the teacher! Also, I can see problems for children who do not have easy access to high-speed internet at home and would therefore have to take time out of their breaks at school to visit the boards.

All this considered, I can see discussion boards, like wikis, being a very useful tool for larger-scale projects involving more than one class or school. But I don't see how it might be necessary for one class. Children would be better improving their speaking and listening skills in school and learning to use discussion boards to communicate with other people, all over the world, about subjects that really interest them.