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- Encourage responses that provide unique insights. Create discussion prompts that do not have simple, “correct” answers. This will ensure that students are able to post original content rather than what someone else has already posted.
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- Moderate the size of your discussions. Most discussion tools offer the ability to assign students to separate groups. Consider assigning students to discussion groups if the class size is large to prevent students from becoming overwhelmed. Each group can discuss the same questions and one representative from the group could summarize their discussion to a discussion for the whole class.
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- Model a friendly tone through your prompts. Promote a friendly and helpful environment by designing discussion prompts with a positive tone.
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- Create ground rules. Share your expectations early on in the course. Provide students with guidelines or a rubric to follow and let them know what types of language is and is not acceptable.
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- Make use of the tools available to you. Familiarize yourself with all of the features of the discussion tool you are using. For example, many discussion tools have an option that forces students to respond to a prompt before they are able to view responses from their classmates. Think about the prompt you are designing and what features could enhance the student experience.
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- Provide examples of appropriate responses. Give students an idea of what type of response you’re looking for. Provide them with a sample response that includes the type of originality you’re looking for (e.g., “In my experience, I have…”, “I believe that…”).
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- Summarize students’ discussions. At the conclusion of the discussion activity, post your own response. This can be done within the discussion board or as an announcement to the class. Highlight any novel ideas or opinions. Consider using video to increase instructor presence and add your personality to the course.
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- Keep track of your own summaries and posts. You can probably reuse them next time you teach the course!
