1. DISCUS: A WWW Discussion Board for the Electronic Classroom
Dr. William F. Polik
Kevin W. Paulisse
Hope College, Holland, Michigan

2. Discus Discussion Board

3. The “Electronic Classroom”
Organize static course information (syllabus, keys to old exams)
Post course announcements without updating WWW pages
Students discuss homework problems, assignments, exams, etc.
Faculty (and students) respond to student questions

4. User Interface

5. Key User Interface Features
Available from anywhere using any browser (including Netscape, IE, Lynx)
Formatting, symbols, tables, graphics, and hyperlinks without HTML
Messages in a discussion stored on one page, allowing efficient navigation
Posting limited to students in the class

6. Administrative Tools

7. Key Administrative Features
Entirely browser-based (no HTML, FTP, or unix knowledge necessary)
Permissions levels: superuser, moderator, user, public
Delete, move, edit, reorder, rename, add topics, subtopics, and messages
Electronic input of class lists

8. Discus vs. Older Technology
distribution lists (listserver)
Newsgroups
Static WWW Pages
Real-time Chat

9. Discus vs. Other Programs
Most powerful administrative tools
Formatting, table, and image upload
notification
Messages on the same page
Limit posting to class members
Organize static course information

10. Ideas for Using Discus Course information & announcements
Create class lists (biographies, photos)
Respond to common questions
Group assignments, result sharing
Student discussion of assigned reading
Student-created homework keys
ChemBoard: Physical Chemistry II
ChemBoard: Elementary teachers: Who we are
ChemBoard: Inorganic: Discussion
ChemBoard: P-Chem II: Expts: Abs. Spectra
ChemBoard: P-Chem II: Discussion: Q. Dots
ChemBoard: P-Chem II: HW: HW Set 8

11. Why Use Discus?
Allow students to participate from anywhere at any time
Include students who prefer to communicate electronically
Allow entire class to benefit from individual discussions
It is easy to set up and maintain

12. Acknowledgments
Howard Hughes Medical Foundation (Faculty Development Grant)
National Science Foundation
Hope College Department of Computing and Information Technology

13. More Information Discus Home Page: http://www.chem.hope.edu/discus
ChemBoard: