Electronic Forum 2.0
====================

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF TOOL
-------------------------

The Electronic Forum allows students to communicate 
collectively and privately with others in their class 
(including the instructor); to participate in discussions 
beyond the class, campus, or District; to contact others on 
the Internet; and to retrieve information from remote 
locations.

 IMPORTANT FEATURES OF TOOL
---------------------------

Class rosters are loaded into EF directly from SIS, and 
recordkeeping is automatic. Faculty members can set up class 
discussions under a variety of naming conventions (including 
pen names), can establish "sub forums" for collaborative 
work and can provide supplementary course material or 
"publish" student work without the use of paper. Non-class 
discussions can be established in an almost infinite variety 
of formats. EF members can send private mail messages to 
each other or to any person with an e-mail address on the 
Internet. BITNET and Internet discussion "lists" can be 
brought into EF easily, and people can write out to lists 
from within EF. The forum includes three information 
retrieval tools, Gopher, World-wide Web, and WAIS, which 
allow browsing or searching of remote databases.

WHO WOULD USE THIS TOOL?
------------------------

Individuals have used EF for coursework as well as for 
personal and intellectual development. College groups 
(clubs, committees, departments, or service areas) can 
communicate electronically when face-to-face meetings might 
be inconvenient or difficult to schedule. College and 
District organizations can use EF to provide information 
about events, educational opportunities, program guidelines, 
and approaching deadlines. Faculty members in different 
disciplines or at different colleges can use EF to link 
their classes.


HOW DOES THE TOOL SUPPORT EFFECTIVE AND LEARNING?
-------------------------------------------------

The Electronic Forum allows students and teachers to 
continue class discussions outside of class time in an 
environment where markers of gender, race, ethnicity, and 
disability are less apparent. It allows all members of the 
campus community to contribute to discussions of interest to 
them when they have the time. It opens up to community 
college students, faculty, and staff Internet discussions on 
a huge range of topics, allowing exciting opportunities in 
global communication.



CONTACT PERSON
--------------

Karen Schwalm, GCC            435-3651