As well as the news forum (course noticeboard) we currently have:
*"Introduce yourself" in section 0
*a forum in each week named Week 1 etc
*forum in Week 4 "Show us your Moodle course"

In order to make good use of forums and show off groups, how about we have:

*"Introduce yourself" forum in section 0 (as now)
*"Dare to speak your mind!" or similar - forum in section 0 with controversial questions every few days to get people thinking. We could suggest topics but maybe participants will start to post issues themselves.
*"General help" or even "Help for beginners" in Week 1 but to cover the activities for all the weeks (ie, just one help forum with ratings turned on)
*"Teach your group" - a forum in Week 2 to be displayed mid-week maybe? Makes use of small groups where one person teaches the others a subject of their choice. See MDLSITE-2446

• Should we have a forum in week 3 also with another group activity? If so, any ideas?
  *"Show off your Moodle course" forum in Week 4 (as now)

Do we need a separate forum for experienced Moodlers to ask and discuss Moodle issues? So as not to overwhelm the beginners' forum? The course overview FAQ says advanced/admin/development type questions should be posted on Moodle.org so do we simply remind them to post over there and delete such questions - or do we accept they're going to talk on here and give them a forum?