Module 2 - Email Lists

What are the pros and cons of email lists versus discussion boards?

My experience with emails lists is solely through my work in a school where I manage and am part of a number of emails lists. These emails lists are based on specific groups of staff who meet regularly to discuss particular aspects of the delivery of education in a school environment.

The pros for the email lists are:

· Members of the list constantly check their emails
· The information is sent to all members at the same time
· Using the ‘reply all’ function allows response information to be received by all members at the same time
· Information is readily available in the Inbox


The cons for the email lists are:

· When the servers are down, we are not able to access emails
· When responses are given, the threads that need to be followed to have an understanding of the response can be very long and tedious to follow
· Large number of emails can be received
· Unless managed appropriately, with relevant folders, emails can be overlooked when receiving large numbers of emails on a daily basis
· In managing an email list it is necessary to ensure that appropriate members and their addresses are accurate and regularly updated


Discussion Boards

My experience with discussion boards has been with the University of South Australia discussion board and with the Curtin’s webct discussion board.

The pros for the discussion board are:

· Discussion board is sorted by a topic
· Threads can be easily started and followed
· Ideas and help can be easily obtained through discussion boards with threads providing alternative viewpoints
· Selection of topic to be followed is able to be done easily


The cons for the discussion board are:

· Following threads can often be long and repetitive
· Comments can move off the topic
· Need to search for relevant topic