Spotlight on: Discussion Boards
We’ve gathered informative articles, videos, and solutions for keeping you and your students engaged in online and on-ground discussion boards.
Online discussion boards can be key to encouraging student interaction, widen participation, and fostering deeper thinking, especially in online courses. If they are done right. reveal what makes a good discussion, best practices and how to use Canvas to make your current discussions work better instantly.
Know your why
Behind every discussion prompt, there must be a reason. That reason must be because the prompt helps students attain one of the course or lesson's goals. Discussions are a form of moving to mastery, not proof of mastery. Discussion boards should be assessed for how the students are thinking about a particular topic. Are they
Loosen up
At some point many years ago, it was considered good practice to have an online board every single week. This flies in direct opposition to our rule #1. IF your prompt is helping a student master an objective, by all means use it. If the goal of the prompt is to check for learning or just participation, this is a discussion board that isn't needed.
Social & Educational
Discussion boards foster both social and learning growth in our students. Online classes are inherently isolating