I've got an online discussion forum as part of a (mostly in person) university course that I'm teaching. I've been using the university-provided Blackboard forum software which is ... well, I won't use the words that I want to use to describe its quality. In the future, I'm going to use some other software for this purpose, and it won't be hard to find something better than Blackboard. However, the best forum software I've ever used is StackExchange. It's incredible. Any way I could make use of it for teaching?
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4StackExchange isn't a forum platform. It is designed for QA, not discussion.– user200500Commented Feb 17, 2014 at 3:20
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See Is the Stack Exchange engine available? and Stack Overflow clones– aleCommented Feb 17, 2014 at 3:40
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2Could you perhaps enumerate on the particular features of Stack Exchange that you find the most useful for this? This can help us get a better idea of what you're doing, and also help folks guide you to alternative paths to explore. Using the software in partnership / cooperation with educational institutions is something we've thought about, more information would help.– user50049Commented Feb 17, 2014 at 3:47
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1Also please pay attention to the linked / related questions on the right-hand side of the question @AlE. mentioned, and also see this one.– Aaron Bertrand StaffCommented Feb 17, 2014 at 3:56
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@AaronBertrand, everyone else, thanks for the links and other references. I did check RHS, always do, but didn't notice anything relevant. My apologies if I just missed it. SE does things I don't need, but the question/answer format provides, essentially, a linear (not tree) discussion thread system, even if that's not its purpose here. Trees are nice, and SE doesn't provide that. Part of what is great about SE are the overall aesthetics and control given participants. It's just a pleasure to use (e.g. compare Google groups, ignoring the difference between Q/A and free discussion).– MarsCommented Feb 17, 2014 at 23:38
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1 Answer
No, Stack Overflow does not provide this type of service / functionality.
You could look at commercial offerings such as AnswerHub. I have no affiliation with them, but my company does use a customized version of theirs for our own support / Q & A and it works by and large the same way this site does.
They may be able to provide a substantial educational discount; I have no insight into that, but you'd have to contact them directly to get reasonable estimates anyway.
http://answerhub.com/qa/questions/952/does-answerhub-have-special-pricing-for-non-profit.html
That is the one I have experience with; as pointed out in the comments, there are many others.
answered Feb 17, 2014 at 3:45
