Long Live the Discussion Board, Eliminate the Discussion Bored
Candidly speaking, even with interesting discussion prompts, the same old read, write, post (and respond to two peers) discussion board routine can become a cringe-worthy event not only for students but instructors too. Even though much time and care may have gone into staging scintillating topics for captivating online discussions, they can still fall flat of the critical thinking and dialogue you were hoping to inspire. Although online discussion boards have been around for decades, unfortunately, they may have gotten a bit of a bad rap from some online course participants for generating repetitive thought sharing, voluminous posts readings for course participants, and worst of all-a lackluster conversation. However, according to the Voice of the Online Learner, sixty-three percent of online learners who recently graduated said they would enroll in an online program again. So, online discussion boards cannot be all that bad. While sharing many similarities with methods for cultivating face-to-face interactions, online discussions can offer different opportunities and limitations, in creating meaningful dialogue between students and instructors. Here are a couple of simple ways to make virtual discussions engaging and fun in online, blended, or traditional face-to-face courses.
Build a safe space for the community
There are many ways that online discussions can help in an online, blended, or traditional face-to-face course. For example, instructors could integrate or supplement online discussions with face-to-face class discussions which help to reinforce key points and encourage engagement with a topic beyond the physical classroom. Quiet students who are hesitant to engage in public speaking might be compelled to write a response online. For optimal results, be sure to bring the talking points or questions raised in the virtual world back into the physical classroom or vice versa, so learners can see the value of an extended conversation in both environments. Online discussion boards can help to foster a comfortable learning environment where students can learn socially. Humans learn from each other through sharing what we know. Lev Vygotsky’s sociocultural learning theory considered that social interaction was fundamental in human learning and development and online discussion boards provide a space for students to interact anytime. Due to its unique features, online discussions are a critical component of student learning. Students engage in collaborative critical inquiry through online discussion by articulating thoughts, formulating hypothesis, negotiating meanings, and socially constructing knowledge (Beckmann & Weber, 2016).
Add multimedia to enhance discussion posts
Ask students to apply course content or concepts to real world scenarios or through their own life or work experiences. An effective way to implement this strategy is to review educational author, James M. Lang’s recommendation on connection questions. For instance, take a concept that has been introduced and ask students to post about where else they may have encountered it. They may have discussed it in a previous class, seen it on TV, or heard about it from someone. Ask them to post about the first time or any time they may have interacted with the concept. Encourage learners to take ownership of their learning and help them to make it stick by allowing them to visually represent their connections through relevant videos, articles, funny Instagram posts, gifs, comics, and infographics that they can curate or create. When learners are prompted to share what they know through a creative medium based on their own personal experiences they are building a safe and interesting space for learning socially through each other.
Group Discussions
Consider placing students into small groups to discuss course content instead of assigning whole-class discussions. Smaller groups allow for more intimate discussions about the course content, Students can experience a greater chance of forming connections with the content by focusing on the replies of 3 to 5 students verses a whole class discussion. Students can also be switched to other diverse groups after an assignment, topic, or unit to connect with different students’ viewpoints and strategies. Another discussion strategy is to assign roles for students to play during the discussion. For example, one student could be the initial commenter, a second student could be the responder to this first comment, and the third student could be the person who summarizes the direction of the topic in their commentary. Delegating assigned roles can help students to know how to frame their position on topics and steer the discussion along a productive path.
Evaluating projects or assignments
A discussion forum can also be used as a way for students to post and evaluate course projects, products, or presentations. The discussion forum in this way becomes a space for peer-to-peer evaluation of course artifacts, which is beneficial to learners. Discussions can also be a way to extend course projects. Students can post their productions and use a structured commenting method such as the 3C+Q method developed by Jennifer Stewart-Mitchell, a K-12 teacher. This method asks students to include a compliment, a comment, a connection, and a question in each post and response. For more information on this structure and other interesting variations of structuring your discussions, please peruse the Faculty Focus article series on 21 Ways to Structure an Online Discussion.
Conclusion
There is a myriad of ways to approach enlivening online discussions, but without any structure, the discussion can still fall flat. Many experienced online learners are already familiar with the read, write, post drill and sometimes they will be tempted to simply post and provide the obligatory response to a classmate’s post to meet the requirement without ever truly engaging with the content and others. So, it may be helpful to establish some rules of engagement before the conversations commence. You may want to consider setting two deadlines for discussion posts-one for the first post and one for the response to others’ posts. Perhaps include a rubric or guidelines for the participation criteria so learners can know the expectations for contribution. You may even want to take a cue from social media and allow the use of visual media such as videos, emojis, gifs, and even a more conversational tone for a captivating discussion.
Resources:
https://www.chronicle.com/article/small-changes-in-teaching-making-connections/?cid=gen_sign_in
References:
Beckmann, J., & Weber, P. (2016). Cognitive presence in virtual collaborative learning:
Assessing and improving critical thinking in online discussion forums. Interactive
Technology and Smart Education, 13(1), 52–70.