DISCUS - An Electronic Discussion Board
Introduction
Elmhurst College Discussion Board can be used for three main functions:
To read ongoing discussions on a variety of topics
To contribute to an ongoing discussion topic by "Adding a Message"
To initiate a new conversation within a discussion subtopic by "Creating a New Conversation"
Anyone with access to the World Wide Web can read Elmhurst College Discussion Board discussions. At the discretion of the discussion moderators, a user account may be required to post messages or to create new conversations.
There is a special administrative section where the moderator for a course sets up the topics.
Discus has a number of features
Users navigate the interface using powerful searching tools (new messages or keyword search) or using Yahoo-style navigation bars. Within Discus, locating new posts, "hot spots," or previous discussions is easy and convenient, because the links change color when there is new activity since your last visit, and this doesn't require cookies! Contributing to discussions couldn't be easier, as a form on the same page suggests to your users that a reply is expected.
The searching tools are very useful for the moderator or instructor of a course to find all messages within the last day or several days. Also you may search on a student name to find all of the posts by a particular student.
The board is maintained using administrative tools that are accessed through your WWW browser in a series of separate screens. This allows moderators to administer the board from anywhere in the world from any computer with WWW access! Moderators have full control over posting permissions, page layouts, subtopics, messages, and even the color scheme of the board.
The following documentation is found at the Discus site.
The following is the Discus site at Elmhurst College, you may want to check some of the courses for example applications of using an electronic discussion board as a supplement to a traditional course:
Children Literature
Education
English 521/522
See the Chemistry Department, CHM 110 pages for how a very extensive series of topics and discussions are arranged for a complete online course.
A sample of the linking possible from a course page to direct links into Discus is in CHM 110 Topic 2.
Click the first couple of links or scroll down to a Question in the topic, then click the lecture discussion link.
By looking at the source code of the pages set up by Discus, it is possible to create a link from your own web page directly to the exact page in Discus where the student is to make a response. Similarly you can create a subtopic in Discus that will link back to the appropriate web page. This is a feature that is not implemented very well in other discussion board software.