Designing online discussions students will actually use
Be honest: do you like your online discussion board? Are students excited and engaged, carrying on unprompted conversations about course content, giving you clear insight into their learning?
If your answer is yes, please, share your secrets with us!
But if, like most of us, your answer is, “well, no…not really…,” you are far from alone. There are no one-size-fits-all solutions, but here are some reflections on a research project I recently conducted.
Start with purpose
The biggest pitfall with online discussions (and many other types of learning activities) is not clearly aligning them with learning outcomes. In other words, each activity in your course should have a clearly defined function in helping students get from point A to point B. Discussions are sometimes added for peer-to-peer engagement, but it’s important for them to be clearly connected to learning and assessment.
Two very common uses for discussions fall into one of these categories:
- A mini essay
- An open discussion on a topic
The mini essay has a more detailed prompt that includes specific questions that should be answered, and likely requires some form of citations. There may even be a more detailed rubric that evaluates what is included. A writing assignment can be effective as a discussion post, but the purpose should be clearly defined. For example, does this writing assignment lead to a larger writing project, where students can apply feedback from peers? If it does, or if it could, this kind of activity is a great opportunity for students to give reader feedback and to learn from each other. To better design a peer review discussion, include clear instructions for what kind of feedback they should give, such as a list of topics or questions. To help this activity flow smoothly in the course, be sure to allow time between the initial post and the feedback by setting multiple due dates.
Bonus tip: a follow-up reflection activity that asks students to review feedback and write a short revision plan ensures that the discussion is used.
The open discussion is usually meant to be comparable to a seminar course, where students share thoughts and ideas from course material. The prompt may be less detailed to allow for student-led approaches, but it is equally important for students to understand the purpose of the discussion. Start by looking at the overall alignment of the module, week, or course: what is the learning material helping them do? For example, if they are designing a project for the course, you might ask them to use this week’s readings to begin choosing a theoretical framework for their project. The discussion board could be a space to test out the ideas that are taking shape, and the peer responses might be additional questions to consider or possible pitfalls they may be missing. In this case, the instructions for posting and replying may be less specific, but the addition of a clear purpose helps them understand what to share and what kind of feedback they could offer.
Bonus tip: Again, a reflective step can be a perfect opportunity to ensure students are reading peer feedback and using it to deepen their learning.
Instructor presence matters
Students I spoke with clearly valued learning from and with peers, but it needed to be purposeful in their overall success in the course (i.e., good grades), but students also have a strong preference for interaction with their instructor. The instructor is the expert, the mentor, the component they’re paying tuition for, and they want to learn from that instructor. While the majority of student-instruction interactions take place in other areas like direct feedback or office hours, instructor participation in discussions can be meaningful. Some instructors make brief comments to several students on each discussion, ensuring that each student gets at least one interaction during the semester. You can also review the discussion, synthesize the conversation, then make a video post to the class that shows them you are actively listening.
Designing for use, not just participation
Online discussions are meant to support learning, but many students experience them as disconnected from the rest of the course. Students are often balancing coursework with jobs, caregiving, and other commitments, but discussions that serve a clear learning function can be a valuable aspect in an online course. You can further support your students’ ability to recognize the purpose of the activities by explicitly stating how those dots are connected. For example, you might explain, “In this discussion we will share our ideas for drafts, then you will be able to revise your work before turning in the final draft on Friday.”
Take a look at your lowest-performing discussion board from last semester. If you applied just one of these techniques—like the Instructor Synthesis video—how would the student experience change? Try it in your next course and track the change in student engagement and performance on assessments.
