The Discussion Area is the public forum to have "conversations" about the content explored in the course.  This area allows you to connect with other participants and share professional and personal experiences, generate ideas, and explore thought-provoking questions.

The following criteria will be used to determine satisfactory
completion of the discussion component.

Participation

Attendance and participation are mandatory in an online course. Frequent and quality postings to the discussion forums are required. This includes:

• posting within the required weekly timeframe (a week is defined as Monday through Sunday)
• maintaining regular and timely communication with other participants
• reading and responding to any questions made to your original postings
• checking your original post to see if the facilitator has asked any follow-up questions

Demonstration of Knowledge

Your original posting must reflect knowledge of course content. Postings should:

• relate to the discussion topic
• be stated in a clear and concise manner
• provide supporting details and/or examples from other resources or professional experience
• exhibit a thorough understanding of the week's content

Postings must be thorough and provide details and examples that show an understanding of the content.

Mechanics

Spell check is available and should be used when posting. It is good practice to read over your responses before submitting them in effort to catch careless errors that may have been made.

• complete sentences
• well-organized
• grammatically correct
• free of spelling errors

Additional points of information to assist you in creating quality postings are included below.

Click here for Samples of Satisfactory and Unsatisfactory Postings

If you do not post in the Discussion Forum for one week, you will be removed from the course.