First of all, the discussion forums are intended to engage you more than anything else, so do not feel stressed about them. We only have eight cases, and historically expectations in the class have been that you post one high quality post per case to earn full points (and make sure not to miss any discussions). Just enjoy the conversation, and try out your strategy formation skills.

When the forum opens, the only discussion that you will be able to view is your team’s discussion (so it will be obvious what team you are assigned to). The question posted to your discussion will be large enough in scope that you will have several avenues of thought to discuss. Do not treat this as an assignment with a right or wrong answer….treat it as a discussion that several people contribute to. So make an effort to build off each other’s thoughts and offer constructive interactions that add value and advance the thought development.

Remember that after exam 1 (first three case discussions), you will receive feedback on how you are doing relative to the class average in terms of both quality and quantity of posts. If you are average or better in both metrics, you have done everything that I have expected of you. If you are below average in either metric, you will have the remainder of the semester (5 more case discussions) to turn things around and go above the class average to make up for the weak early performance.

Discussion Forum Posting Procedures:
1. If you can see the forum and the kickoff question, you have privileges to post….weird error messages may pop up, but the oncourse tech people are working on this bug ‘at their highest priority’….if you happen to get an error message, log out and then log back in to see if your post went up anyway.
2. You only have the right to post replies in the discussion forum, you cannot start your own thread. So, either reply to my original kickoff post, or reply to a post already put up by one of your discussion colleagues.
3. You have editing rights to your own posts while the discussion is active, so make sure to re-enter the forum and check how your post looks after you have submitted it. If changes are needed, click on the edit option.
4. If you are copying your post in from a word document, please use the paste from word button (looks like the Word icon clipboard) and then follow the pop-up instructions. Failure to follow the directions will lead to a really weird formatted post that is basically a mile of coding (alien garbage), which is unreadable, so make sure to check your post after submitting and edit when needed…..if you get the alien garbage, you should use the source button in the edit function to remove all of the coding…..it takes a couple clicks, but you can figure it out.
5. Each post should be your own ideas and in your own words. Do not simply copy website material or sections of the case itself. I reserve the right to submit questionable posts to the turnitin.com service provided by IU to check for authenticity.
6. Each post should not exceed 200 words (focus your thoughts as best as you can).
7. Do not submit more than three posts in any given case discussion.
8. Do not talk to yourself. Posting several times in a row will probably not add much value to the discussion as you are talking to yourself….if you are posting multiple times, post in different threads and/or at different times.
9. Turn off the ‘watch’ function….the default setting is to have all posts e-mailed to you once you have posted in a forum. If you do not want that, click on the watch option under the Forums heading and choose the option not to be notified.
10. No attachments accepted in the forums, everything must be in the body of the post.

Discussion Forum Posting Tips for High Value:
1. Get into the discussion early. The first few posts are usually more impactful in value