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[lotsoquestions]

Has anyone ever used this feature in Blackboard -- having students rate other students discussion posts?  Part of me thinks how great it would be to have other students tell the slacking student to stop slacking and try to say something relevant.  Part of me thinks it would just be more controversy in an otherwise contentious class.  Has anyone used it successfully?  How?

[zharkov]

I haven't spotted it in BB, but a similar feature has been part of Moodle for a while.  Although I have never used it, you might want to ask the Moodle Community; see the forums and moodle docs at moodle.org.

[expatinuk]

I've had some students in my Moodle classroom ask me to use this. I've decided not to for several reasons:

1. My class is usually the first online class a student has taken
2. Many of them are international from India or China and are usually quite shy.
3. I don't grade 'quality' in the posts ... only 'quantity' (in this class... in later classes it's quality)
4. Since it's their first online class I want them to get comfortable with online discourse without worrying about 'quality'
5. I'm afraid that if other students use the 'thumbs up' or 'thumbs down' that it will put off the shy students, just what I do not want to do.

[msoexpert]

The only reason why I don't use the rating feature is out of fear a student who gets a poor rating will feel humiliated and bad. So I choose to have students respond to my posts and comment on other student postings if they wish. 99% of the time, they're civil and not critical of what one has to say.

[caeprylo]

Personally, I wouldn't mind having someone rate my posts, but I can see how this might be a turnoff to new online students.  I am in two online classes right now and in one, I have no idea how I am doing.  If the prof rated my posts, I might have some inkling as to how my learning is progressing in this course.

[magistra]

E-mail the prof or TA and ask.  I know what you mean; explaining grades for posts is insanely time-consuming, and since it's usually a relatively small part of the grade, most don't think to do it.  I did once, though, and I was surprised at the enthusiasm of the response -- several students said they'd taken on-line classes before and never been given a rationale for their post grades.  I think it's just something that instructors don't think of.

It can't hurt to send a polite e-mail saying "I'm new to on-line instruction and I was hoping you could tell me whether my posts are sufficient."  But basically, if they're grammatical and well-spelled, actually answer the question or otherwise directly link to the discussion topic, are supported with sufficient (accurate) details, especially based on the readings, and are respectful, you'll be fine.