Web forums provide another method for people with similar interests to interact in an asynchronous manner. Forums are oftentimes called newsgroups or community bulletin boards and there are literally thousands of them on the Internet. Different from a listserv, because you post a message to a particular place and then others come to the site, read your comments and respond. When you send a message to a listserv, everyone subscribed to the list receives your message in their mailbox.

Web forums are the newer version of newsgroups and are much easier to access and use. Once you find a web forum for a topic which interests you, it is as simple as pointing and clicking to read a message and reply to it. A good place to start in looking for a web-based forum which pertains to your particular interests is Google Groups, formerly Deja.com. You can browse the discussion topics or do a keyword or phrase search.

If you have additional questions about how to use a web-based forum, Google Groups is the place to go once again. This site provides a short course which discusses the following topics in detail:

1. What is Usenet and where did it come from?

2. Navigating Usenet

3. Frequently Asked Questions

An extensive list of K-12 science education forums can also be found at Google Groups.

Another type of web-based forum is known as a NetForum.

Take a look at the Science Teaching Forum to see how the topics are set up in a list format.

Each topic is a clickable link that expands to show all the messages which have been posted for that particular topic. To read a message, click on it to open it up. To reply to a message, click on the button.

A brief tutorial, written by Dr. Al Bodzin, explains in detail how to use the NetForum to encourage dialog among your fellow science educators.

In closing, both forums and newsgroups have a great deal to offer educators in terms of problem solving and the exchange of classroom resource materials.

Using a forum or a newsgroup can put you in touch with teachers who you might otherwise not have an opportunity to interact.

Try one or two and see how beneficial they can be!

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