Discussions

Discussions are somewhat similar to your in-class discussions, but they occur on a written discussion board and asynchronously (not in real-time). You pre-start the Discussion with a prompt, idea, or focus, and your students join and contribute to the conversation. Discussions have a feature that allows your students to post and reply to each other in your online classroom (You can post and reply too!). Just like Pages, Discussions can hold content such as text, video, images, weblinks, files, and more.

 View this Discussions Overview video from Canvas

Using Discussions allows you to create a space where you and your students can learn from and 'talk' with each other. The discussion board is clearly different than real-time in-class conversation; however, it can be just as meaningful. It gives you and your students a chance to pause and reflect on what is being said, often a challenging task in a real-time situation (in-class or web meeting). Discussion boards can give a voice to your shyer students that have difficulties speaking up in class. We encourage you to give them a try. You might be surprised at what happens!

You can also use Discussions as part of your students' grades. Just like Assignments, replies to a graded discussion automatically go to your online Gradebook, a place where you keep track of and grade your students' work.

Add a Discussion to a Module then add everything your students need to have a lively and meaningful exchange. Include your expectations for their participation (how often or the number of posts). Think about some of the best class discussions you have had and start with those prompts.

TIP - Consider a 3-tiered approach to writing discussion questions:

1. Comprehension - Craft your question to check in re: did your students do the reading and did they understand it.

2. Application - Get your students to do something with what they're learning. Ask the why questions or get them to compare/contrast and synthesize two different concepts or cases.

3. Make it matter - Ask your students the big questions, questions pertaining to ethical dilemmas, or belief systems or something that relates to their experience or requires a judgment call.

TIP - Use the right tool for the job at hand. Don't use a Page or Assignment if you want your students to have a conversation (Pages and Assignments don't have a reply feature).

• ❑ How do I create a discussion? Links to an external site.
• ❑ How do I pin a discussion? Links to an external site.
• ❑ How do I edit a discussion? Links to an external site.
• ❑ How do I add a graded discussion to my course? Links to an external site.
• ❑ How do I reply to a discussion? Links to an external site.
• ❑ How do I view and sort discussion replies? Links to an external site.

Next, add Text Headers (This is an easy one but it can make a big difference!)