General queries

A discussion board can also be used for general queries about the department or its courses. Many queries may be answered by the students themselves, but again, the issues raised can remain to provide support at a later date. For example, one student posted a message to a Durham discussion board at the beginning of this academic year saying: “Last year I had a bookmark to WestLaw which was a really useful site, but it seems to have disappeared – where has it gone? Help!”, a request which was responded to by a fellow student within hours.

Example of a student enquiry

This query and the ensuing discussion as to the availability of the service outside the networked PC service at the university and the necessary passwords continued for some time, without any necessary intervention by teaching staff.

Last Modified: 2 August 2010