DIscussion Boards - Graphs task

I found the Portfolio task linked to graphs quite interesting. I think it was useful for me to do because prior to this course I have had very little experience of discussionboards and doing tasks like these are increasing my knowledge and confidence of how to use them. It also involved using excel, which, if you've read my previous blog entry you'll know is something I must keep practising!!

I don't actually think I found this style of learning any more useful than if myself and my partner had been sat in a classroom working together on the task. I am a great believer in the saying 'two heads are better than one.' I also think that it would be easier for me and my learning approach to be able to discuss ideas with someone before putting pen to paper.

In a school environment, I think this type of work could be problematic for the type of question that was posed. I think it would be a lengthy and time consuming activity in these circumstances, especially if the children collaborating on the work were unsure of their answers. I also think there may be problems with cheating. It is lovely in an adult environment to be able to see what other people have done to check that you're on the right lines, but in a school with young children, having other people's ideas and work freely available in a discussion board like the one set up for this task, I think the temptation would be too strong for some children and they would simply copy other people's work.

However, that said, I don't think the discussion board should be totally avoided in the primary classroom and can see it being very useful for other types of work. I think, it could be good for half termly or termly projects that are ongoing and allow the children to develop their ideas. I also think that school trips and PSHE ideas could be discussed in a class discussion board really effectively and this is how I envisage using it next September.