What is it?

Many lecturers find that making themselves available in online forums, such as Blackboard, Twitter and Facebook, allows them to effectively identify any problems their students may be experiencing and thus put in place additional workshops to ensure that students have understood everything that has been covered as part of the course. Moreover, the concerns raised by students in online forums can help lecturers to tailor the workshops to work on specific concepts that some students may find challenging.

How can students make the most of it?

Students should be encouraged to use online forums so that their lecturers can effectively identify students’ weaknesses and thus provide further support if need be. However, if students do not feel comfortable using online forums, they can also email their lecturer directly. Although this is not a problem, it is important that students take the opportunity to highlight any problems they may be experiencing so that additional workshops can be tailored to their needs as much as possible.