IntenseDebate



The problem with using comments at the end of a blog post for student discussions is the strict linear structure of blog posts. First you write a post and then someone comments. Each successive comment follows below the previous comment so, in effect, everyone is commenting on the original post. Side discussions can get confusing because there is no way to link directly to someone else's comment. [|IntenseDebate] is a plugin that can be used with Blogger, Wordpress and other blogging platforms that adds functionality to the comments section of a blog. Students and instructors can create avatars to make the comments more personal and they can reply, either to the original post, or to any comment along the way. This is handy for an instructor who wants to target a reply without engendering confusion.

Students can also create personal profiles and they can vote on each others' comments. Students and instructors can also receive email notifications when someone in the class makes a comment. The functionality is similar in many ways to the Moodle discussion forum but here the discussion can be integrated into the considerably more dynamic functionality of a blogging platform.