Overview

A WSIS debate is an online discussion which adapts the rules of Oxford-style debating. There is a motion which is defended by one side (pro) and assailed by another (contra). There is also a moderator which governs the debate.

There are three phases in the debate in which the sides can present their statements: opening, response and closing. The audience can vote for or against the motion during the course of the debate and the total number of votes will be tallied by the end of the closing phase to determine the winner.

For group administrators

community administrators are responsible for creating debates. They assign who will represent the sides, who the moderator is, and the dates for each phase of the debate. A debate's settings can be edited as long as it hasn't started yet.

For debate participants

Debate participants (moderator, pro, contra) post their statements for each phase of the debate. A participant can only input a statement for the next phase of the debate. There is no restriction on how many times a statement can be edited as long as the phase the statement is on is not yet active. Statements for active and past phases can't be edited.

The system automatically sends out a reminder email to a participant when the date for the next phase is about to begin and the participant hasn't entered a statement for the phase yet.

For non-participating group members

community members can participate in a debate by casting their votes, for or against the motion and by commenting and/or raising questions on a debate's current phase. Members are allowed to change their votes throughout the duration of the debate. Posting comments are open throughout the duration of the debate and there is no limit on the number of comments a member can post.