Tip: Where do online discussions go wrong?
And what can we do about it?
Every time spring break rolls around, it takes me back to that week in 2020 where we started the break anxiously watching what was happening in other countries, and ended with plans to go remote “for three weeks.” Although I was lucky to have experience teaching both online asynchronous (since 2009) and remote synchronous (since 2018) courses, finding ways to replace the classroom interactions and relationships that our students were missing was quite a challenge.
I have continued to teach online synchronous courses - and continue to wrestle with making space for relationship-building activities. Discussions, I think, are particularly challenging. I know this is partly the nature of discussion boards, but it’s also sometimes hard to facilitate live discussions via Zoom. Somehow the wait time that feels reasonable in a face-to-face setting feels as if it stretches on for much longer in an online space. In talking with instructors over the past five years, it seems that concerns with how to make discussions a productive and worthwhile activity are fairly wide-spread. Below, I offer three key challenges and actions students and instructors can take to address them.
Challenge #1: Emphasis on Quantity Over Quality
The value of online discussions rides almost entirely on students making meaningful contributions, but too often our expectations address the number of posts and replies more than the content of these posts. Focusing on the quantity of posts rather than their quality doesn’t encourage meaningful dialogue, so we need to shift our expectations to prioritize thoughtful contributions rather than meeting posting requirements.
Students should…use discussions as a space for “trying out” new ideas and ways of thinking by asking insightful questions, supporting arguments with relevant examples, and acknowledging classmates’ contributions.
Instructors should…provide clear guidelines and models of what constitutes a substantive post to encourage deeper engagement, and revise assessment criteria to emphasize quality of contributions.
Instructor prompt: Instead of focusing on the number of posts, aim for at least one high-quality response that critically engages with the material and includes specific examples and references from the readings to support your arguments.
Challenge #2: Lack of Engagement
Difficulty engaging students can show up in a number of ways. Perhaps you have only a few students actively participating, with most students posting one-word answers or generic statements (I agree!). There may be little to no back-and-forth communication among participants, with very few questions being posed by students. Too, their posts might not demonstrate the sort of connection to real-world examples or to students’ own personal opinions and experiences that we would like to see.
Students should…follow a model of idea + connection + question (ICQ) for their posts, to help them remember to share an idea and then make a connection to a previous post or other course material, and then ask a thoughtful question that will move the discussion forward.
Instructors should…show up to the discussions by posing stimulating questions, summarizing (or ask students to summarize ) the points discussed, and connecting ideas to keep the conversation flowing.
Instructor prompt: Reflect on how this week’s topic relates to real-world issues you may encounter in your field. In your response, build on a classmate’s ideas or respectfully challenge their viewpoint with your own perspective and supporting evidence.
Challenge #3: Lack of Coherence
One major disadvantage to many of the online discussion tools is structural: these tools do not closely enough mimic the features and experience of other types of online conversations students engage in (i.e., social media), and so they end up feeling less like a natural back-and-forth conversation and more like a succession of students standing up to read a speech, and then sitting back down, their contribution “done.” I find that even threaded discussions often fall prey to this sort of serial pronouncement of thoughts. This lack of connection between posts compounds as each student who joins the discussion focuses on sharing their own post without reading, considering, and integrating the ideas of the students who went before them. Here, too, is where our expectation that every student must post before being allowed to see other students’ posts actually works against our desire to have dialogue between students.
Students should…build on classmates’ ideas, demonstrating that they understand and can compare/contrast different viewpoints, asking clarifying questions as needed before composing their reply.
Instructors should…remind students to relate responses to prior comments, and ask students to summarize key points or themes throughout the discussion to reinforce coherence and bridge any gaps in logic or argumentation.
Instructor prompt: To kick off our discussion, share one surprising insight you gained from this week’s readings. In your responses, find at least one classmate with whom you agree and note the point of agreement. Then, identify at least one classmate with whom you disagree and explain the basis for your disagreement.
MORE READING…
I hope you find these strategies helpful, and I would love to hear from you about what you do to make online discussions worthwhile for you and your students.
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