Maybe it's just my major and my teachers but they seem to love discussion posts. It's not that I hate discussion posts, I just feel like I am wasting my time.

I understand that I am learning from answering the questions involved in the post. I really do benefit from finding the information and reflecting on my experiences. But in that case, make it an assignment and be done with it. The part that gets me is the replies.

Replying to my classmates is tedious and I'm not sure what I am getting from it. Here's the thing, in all honesty, we all have already talked to each other about the assignment to see if we are all on the right track. Also, we give each other feedback in person. When I am forced to write a two hundred word reply to my classmates' post, I end up repeating what they say and telling them that I agree with their views. I try to be as deep and reflective as possible, but after so many, there isn't anything new to say.

I understand why professors use this technique, I am an education major so I have learned the benefits. The benefits include professional writing, hearing other views, and learning to communicate with others. However, I do feel at this point in life, college students shouldn't really need practice with this, they should have these skills by now. I like the idea of teaching and using this with middle school students or high school students but for college students, there just isn't time for it.

Basically, I see what teachers are trying to do but I think they can cut it back. Maybe not cut this out entirely, but just take some of them away, a discussion a week is a bit much.