Desire2Learn 8.3
Online Discussions: An Overview
For both students and faculty using Desire2Learn, it is essential to understand the online discussion tools. Online discussions help personalize the online class experience by building a learning community. Once these connections are made, students can begin to form and extend the online community as well as engage with each other and the course content. Online discussions can also improve course management by giving students and faculty the chance to reflect as well as give and receive feedback about the web-based learning environment.
- General Discussion Tips
- Discussion Tips for Faculty
- Discussion Areas Versus Online Chats
- Recommended Discussion Areas for Faculty
General Discussion Tips
The majority of online discussion etiquette is common sense, but sometimes we need to be reminded. The following link provides some helpful reminders:
- UW Colleges Online: Online Etiquette
Discussion Tips for Faculty
Below are some tips to help you make the most of your online discussions.
- Provide a separate area for informal and off-topic conversations. For more information, refer to Recommended Discussion Areas.
- Start a new forum/discussion area for each major discussion/unit.
- Use the description area when building discussion topics to introduce the discussion.
- Provide structure and evaluation criteria.
- Establish roles for team members; this helps to facilitate the discussion and provides good experience for students.
- Determine what role you, as instructor, want to have in the discussion, and let the students know (e.g., you are leading, eavesdropping, playing devil's advocate, guiding).
- Make your presence in the discussion area known to the students.
Discussion Areas Versus Online Chats
Discussion Areas
The discussion area is for asynchronous conversations in which one student can post a message in the morning and someone else can respond in the afternoon. All posts are in one place and can be read at any time. The discussion area is appropriate when one or more of the following conditions are met:
- Schedules vary; communicating at the same time is not feasible for everyone or important in meeting the objectives for the discussion.
- A deeper, more thoughtful exchange of ideas is appropriate.
- The number of participants varies; up to 10 participants will work for an asynchronous discussion.
- A quick response is not necessary. Students can compose offline messages, which provide more opportunities for reflection, spell checking, revision, and reduction of time actually spent online. After students have completed their responses, they can copy and paste them into discussion messages.
Online Chats
Online chats are synchronous conversations in which all participants are online at the same time. Depending on the tool used, you may be able to archive chats for future reference. For more information, refer to Archiving Chats. Online chats are appropriate when one or more of the following conditions are met:
- Group project activities need to be coordinated.
- Instructors desire virtual office hours.
- Quick responses to a question are desired more than in-depth answers.
- The group size is fairly small (3-5).
Recommended Discussion Areas for Faculty
To maintain order within your discussions, creating separate discussion forums is recommended. The number and names of discussion topics and forums are influenced by your curricular objectives and structure within the class. In addition to the content-area discussions, we recommend that you also create the following discussion topics:
- Introductions
In this area, students can introduce themselves to fellow classmates. This forum can be especially helpful for online courses in helping to establish a sense of community. - Student Lounge or Cyber Cafe
In this area, students can discuss issues not related to the course. The actual name you choose for this forum should be influenced by your discipline and specific course. - Technical Questions
This type of forum provides a place for students to ask technical questions and look for answers. In many classes, students can and will help each other. - Reference Desk
In this area, students can ask questions regarding where to find or how to use library resources relevant to course assignments. In addition, upon request of the instructor, this forum can be monitored by library staff. - Virtual Office
This forum provides a place for students to seek clarification about assignments or request additional information. By posting these materials in this discussion area, all students can then review the answers so the same question does not require response repeatedly.
