The discussion forums are a method to gain interaction among students and teachers without the pressure that some students face in a traditional classroom. Discussion forums are reflective in nature and allow students to read others perspectives and then consider a response.

Since there is a greater propensity for students to interact with one another compared to a face-to-face setting, class community is enhanced. There is more cohesion among students, with a higher degree of trust. The rate of questions and inquiries increase between students and teachers, due to this greater sense of community. Also the students feel their voice in valuable and applicable to the needs of the of the group.

The student has a greater response time, which in turn means a more thought out or researched response, adding to the educational experience and helping the student take ownership of your own learning. This also leads to students feeling a sense of empowerment that guides them to greater motivation, interest and participation.

I teach in higher ed in a face-to-face setting, however all my classes have discussion forums on our LMS, even my Histology and Embryology classes. I have learned that students will present questions and comments in a discussion forum that they will not in class. Each classmate brings a different perspective to that question and thus the students gets a variety of explanations, helping them to deepen their knowledge of the subject. In the Histology class, my discussion forums consist of case studies. The case studies have a condition that we have discussed in class, but maybe have not reached all conclusions to. The students find that using the knowledge they obtained in class and added new knowledge, through research or other students comments, that they remember and can apply the information better and easier.