Some of the benefits of asychronous discussion forums for online seminars are listed here, along with examples and evidence taken from the past three years of running online seminars at Glasgow Caledonian University.

Flexibility of Delivery

Unlike the tradition face-to-face seminars, students are no longer required to be present in the same room at the same time, in order to discuss seminar materials.  Online delivery has obvious benefits, but may also have its difficulties.  For students undertaking this particular project at Glasgow Caledonian, they are inducted into the new system with two traditional face-to-face seminars at the start of the semester.

Weekly Activity

With seminar problems available on a Wednesday, and a whole week available for discusssion, this chart indicates that students were able and willing to engage throughout the week.

The chart represents the activity of 42 students over an 8 week period.

Hourly Activity

It is also evident that students were able to select the most suitable time of the day to participate in the online discussion.  The chart below shows that activity was fairly low during the early hours of the morning, but students were able to take part during typical teaching times (9-5) as well as during their free time on an evening and into the night.

This method of seminaralso aligns with the QAA (Quality Assurance Agency) for Higher Education's Enhancement Theme of Flexible Delivery.

Non-confrontational

The ability to 'hide behind the computer' also has benefits as well as negative connotations.  Both before and after the introduction of online seminars, some of the issues below are applicable to medical law seminars and to seminar classes in general.

Sensitive Topics

With many of the seminar problems covering quite sensitive topics, there is always the real possibility that some students have experienced, either directly, or know family members or friends that have been affected by injury, childnessness, abortion or mental health issues.  During the traditional face-to-face seminars, students in the past may have been distressed, or more likely, expressed strong views without presenting their argument in an rational, balanced or academic manner.

Dominant Students

Many students expressed the view that they felt more able to convey their views without being interrupted or 'beaten to the post' by other students within the group.