Why Are Discussions Important?

Any workshop or seminar about online teaching will promote the idea of creating community as a way of retaining students. In an online environment, it's important to remember that students are working on their own, in isolation. In order to connect students with each other and with you, use discussions to give students a place to post and respond to each other. Discussions can also be used to foster small group discussions and peer review. Here are some things to consider:

Consider how discussions can build community, help students understand content, and provide a way for students to demonstrate mastery in your course.
Unlike email and announcements, discussions are typically seen by the entire class or a group within a class.
Post a guide to netiquette, or ground rules for discussion and interaction, in your course.
Create a rubric for discussion responses, so students understand what is expected.
Check the due dates for discussions in your classes.
Students (and you) write and respond to distinct posts, similar to taking turns in a face-to-face conversation.
Although both discussions and assignments can be used to assess student learning, discussions are useful for formative assessment to check in on student learning regularly throughout the quarter.

Using Discussions in a Class

What Do Good Discussions Look Like?

There is constant debate over what a good discussion looks like, but one thing that will keep a discussion from falling apart is making sure that students know the purpose of the discussion. Good discussions shouldn't be busy work, and a discussion shouldn't be a way of checking off a box.

Good discussions should allow students to share ideas, get feedback, and communicate with each other, just as they would in a face-to-face class or small group discussion. If you are using Zoom for discussions, you still want students to know the specific purpose of the discussion. You can create breakout rooms for small group discussions, and you can visit each breakout room to make sure students are doing alright. Here are some other tips for using Zoom as a discussion tool.

What are Some Strategies I Can Use?

Here are all the tools you need to create Canvas discussions. And here are some other things you can do to make sure your discussions go well:

Craft discussion questions to be as clear and as specific as possible so that students can build off of the question for a sustained response.
Assign roles to students so that they understand when and how they might respond to you or their peers. For example, students might “role play” as particular kinds of respondents or you might ask them to do particular tasks (e.g. be a summarizer, a respondent, a connector with outside resources).
Put students into groups so that the discussions are easier to manage. Then you can post replies to the group in times when they may need clarification on a topic or when you want to praise them for their good work. See this suggestion for how to build groups in classes.

Join your students in discussions so that they know you are a part of the community. Here are some considerations.
- If you do not want to participate in the discussion, reach out to students individually to give them feedback on their work. That way, the student knows you read their responses.
- Send a message or post an announcement to the whole class and summarize what went well in the discussions and what still needs clarification. Again, that way, students know that you read their work.
Post ground rules that describe appropriate behavior in discussions. This isn't really about grading: this is about setting a standard for respectful dialog and interaction between your students. See Build - Supporting Student Interactions in Advanced Canvas for some samples.
Include a rubric for discussion responses. This helps you make clear what you're looking for in responses, and it guides students away from "I agree," or "I think so too" as a response. Looking for citations of academic works? Include it in the rubric. Word count? In the rubric. You get the idea.

What Else Can I Do?

Use the strategies here along with the Advanced Canvas Discussions Module and PLAID. Contact ID for more help or to brainstorm.