READ: Discussions in Online Courses: Best Practices and Expectations

Discussion forums can be effective activities for fostering asynchronous discourse and interaction among course participants and supporting active, higher-order learning. However, they require careful scaffolding and facilitation in order to be successful -- without it, they tend to fall flat. This guide for instructors in John's Hopkins professional engineering program is one of the best we've seen for how to design and manage a successful online discussion forum.  See step-by-step instructions to set up a discussion board using Moodle Forum.