Forum or Chat, which one should I use?

The forum activity module enables participants to have asynchronous discussions (i.e. discussions that take place over an extended period of time and are not at the same time). Forums have many uses, such as:

• A social space for students to get to know each other
• For course announcements (using a news forum with forced subscription)
• For discussing course content or reading materials
• For continuing online an issue raised previously in a face-to-face session
• For teacher-only discussions (using a hidden forum)
• A help centre where tutors and students can give advice
• A one-on-one support area for private student-teacher communications (using a forum with separate groups and with one student per group)
• For extension activities, for example ‘brain teasers’ for students to ponder and suggest solutions

For a comparison, please refer to the information under Chat in this FAQ.