Just an informal survey of people here. What do you think?

Just wanted to add - thank you for any and all responses. I am not here to refute or support any particular perspective. Just curious as to how others perceive a forum such as this one.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: LoveLearning,

I think it should be a place to discuss the ideas and technologies relevant to the topic area with peers. A place to ask questions of "the experts" for guidance and help with issues you may be facing.

It should also be a place where questions can be asked with the expectation that someone might try to be helpful. Arrogant or "RTFM"-type posts are a sure way to kill a board. The ability to disagree civilly is important.

I also think, in most cases, it should include a less formal "lunch room" area where off-topic topics can be brought up. In theory, that helps in humanizing the participants, and adds a bit of fun, which strengthens the community aspect of the board. YMMV on that, as you might have to police that area a bit for inflammatory discussions that could spill over into the more focused sections of the board.

That's my $.02, anyway.

quote:

Posted Oct 8, 4:28 PM Hide Post
I'd be more interested what your perspective is. Heaven help me if I fail to conform to that opinion! Wink

Wow- that's not very nice.......

Anyway, in keying off the words "professional" and "discussion" in the question - and I agree this is supposed to be a "professional" "discussion" board - I think the purpose is to "discuss" topics of interest to "professionals."

The problem we often see on this particular forum is that non-professionals (and. yes, even some professionals) often ask questions which are either not valid questions (for many reasons), the "wrong" questions, or ill-stated questions.

When this happens, I believe that the professionals in the forum have an obligation, by choosing to participate, to ask for more definitive information from the OP in order to turn the question into a valid one that can be answered in a competent fashion. In cases where the question is just simply the "wrong" question - like when the OP is asking for some particular solution that does not fit the stated problem, it is the responsibility of the professionals on the forum to point that out, and help the OP reframe the situation if possible. And if the question is ill-stated, professionals should try to help the person state it in such a way as to evoke appropriate answers.

It is NOT appropriate for "professionals," who choose to participate, to ignore the fact that the question is not the right question, the fact that there may be conflicting information in the question, etc., etc. However, we see it all the time on this forum. And these very same posters resent the comments from professionals who try to help the OP clarify and re-frame the question! Go figure!!

A real good example of this is when someone writes in asking for a game or exercise for some course for which there has been NO attempt at analysis whatsoever. And there are no performance objectives. (This would indicate a non-professional asked the question.) Yet, many people (probably NOT professionals) go ahead and provide an ill-thought out answer that does not help the OP one bit. And the danger with that is that the OP does not know that it is a poor and misleading answer. It probably sounds good to them because it provides an easy answer.

I believe this is NOT a forum to post questions if you are looking for a specific pre-determined answer (an answer already in your head) to your question. If you merely want validation, you should state that as part of the question so that real professionals on the forum do not waste their time trying to help you with rre-framing or re-stating the question. Because - when that happens, the OP usually gets bent out of shape because the answer is not what they are hoping for - and this is NOT the place for that type thing. This is as DISCUSSION board for PROFESSIONALS.

quote:

It is NOT appropriate for "professionals," who choose to participate, to ignore the fact that the question is not the right question, the fact that there may be conflicting information in the question, etc., etc. However, we see it all the time on this forum. And these very same posters resent the comments from professionals who try to help the OP clarify and re-frame the question!

I agree with you. However I also think there needs to be a balance between questioning and or suggesting the question is the "wrong" one, and being responsive to the poster and actually answering the question.

There's a fair amount of comment around here about adults being adults, but it's quite amazing to see the degree to which some folks will NOT answer questions, assuming the asker doesn't know better than to ask the "wrong" question.

I figure the best way is to a) answer a direct question directly, and b) then comment or question about the usefulness of the original question.

...otherwise, to be honest, without responsiveness, it comes across that some people consistently snipe from the shadows without actually addressing the question asked.

quote:

Originally posted by Robert Bacal:
There's a fair amount of comment around here about adults being adults, but it's quite amazing to see the degree to which some folks will NOT answer questions, assuming the asker doesn't know better than to ask the "wrong" question.

I figure the best way is to a) answer a direct question directly, and b) then comment or question about the usefulness of the original question.

...otherwise, to be honest, without responsiveness, it comes across that some people consistently snipe from the shadows without actually addressing the question asked.

I completely agree with this. It makes more sense to me to assume that the OP HAS done the appropriate analysis, though that may not be immediately obvious from the question. I know I don't have the time to write out the entire history of a project I'm working on - nor is it really relevant when I'm just looking for help on a small aspect of it.

It seems the base assumption from most responders here is that no-one does the appropriate upfront analysis. Therefore the assumption is that most askers are not truly "professionals".

Let me give you a real life example. I've avoided asking a question on here about finding a document management system to help with managing our e-learning (and a few other) assets. Seems like a reasonable place to ask such a question, but I didn't feel like explaining why I am looking for a document management system vs. an LCMS tied to an LMS, or any of a whole host of other questions about my motives or analysis of the situation. I've done my homework, and I'm looking for help with the solution that I've determined is most likely to be helpful in my specific situation. I have no problem with someone providing additional comment to spur something it's possible I didn't consider, but I would prefer that the majority of posts be on point and help me get where I've determined I need to go without having to rehash the 4 months of analysis I just went through with my team.

Let's say someone wants help with the best way to convert PPT to "e-learning". That's a loaded subject. On this board I'd be subjected to at least 10 posts on why I shouldn't be doing that, with the assumption being that I haven't considered that already. It's quite possible that I HAVE already done the analysis and for one reason or another find myself, against my will or not, in the situation where I MUST convert PPT to Articulate (or whatever) and do it quickly. I don't have time to argue about whether I should or not - I need to do it now, and I'm asking for some help in the most efficient method to do so. Ask me if I've considered other, better options, and I'll continue that part of the conversation if I've got the time and/or inclination, but answer the question first.