Atrio Discussions
Discussions Overview
The ability to interact and collaborate with classmates and faculty asynchronously is a key component of social learning. 2U’s new Discussion tool provides a way to facilitate academic, gradable, and flexible written discussions both across a section and within small private student groups.
This is a new tool currently being piloted by faculty of a select group of 2U-powered courses. Functionality and navigation of this tool will continue to adapt as we learn more about how this feature can improve the faculty and student experience.
Key Features & Considerations
The Discussions feature is added to asynchronous content during course development and iteration periods.
Course Coordinators/Course Designers will be able to create unique discussion prompts from 2U’s Content Suite for their students to respond to and reply to one another
Students can respond to the discussion prompt in a variety of ways, including text, file upload and embedded videos
Discussions can be gated, where students will not be able to view other student posts until they have answered it themselves
Faculty can configure discussions to use small, private groups leveraging the existing groups functionality in the Gradebook
Faculty will receive notifications for all posts
Students will receive notifications for any responses to their posts
Posters can @mention students or faculty so that the mentioned user receives a notification that includes a link to the specific post
Posters should be mindful of who is being @mentioned as Discussions posting does not differentiate between roles in Atrio
Students and faculty can also @ mention their entire class or group, which will notify all students in the section or in the group
Notification settings can be customized within the existing Notifications Preferences screen
Strategies for Use
Opportunities for formative feedback from peers or a professor on an assignment
Facilitates collaboration on group activities
Role play activities
Case-based discussion
Live session preparation or post-processing activity
STUDENT DISCUSSION FUNCTIONALITY
Discussion Prompt
Students will be prompted to post to the Discussion. The prompt and possible accompanying attachments are embedded in the Discussion segment design.
Note: In design, Discussions may be gated, requiring the student to post a response prior to seeing the existing Discussion. Be sure to review asynchronous coursework to locate these instances.
Student Posts
In order for students to post to a discussion, they must click Create New Post
Students can expand the prompt and download attachments.
Students then enter in a required title, required content, and optional attachments:
Students can then either Cancel or Submit their post
Once students click to Submit their post, they will receive a prompt to confirm or cancel their submission. They will want to confirm this action at that time.
Note: Students are unable to edit their posts once submitted
Students will see their post upon refreshing their screen. They will also find the post details including date, timestamp, and a YOU indicator. Students can click Expand Post to view their post.
Students can Collapse Post after expanding.
Student Replies
Expanding their posts allows students to Post a Reply to their own post.
If student post have been replied to, students will see an indicator of the number of replies, and can click Expand button to view the replies.
Reading Replies
Once replies are expanded, students have the ability to collapse replies or read through replies. Students will see names of students and faculty that replied, and date and timestamps.
Composing Replies
Students can compose a reply directly to another student or faculty post, or their own post. Once a post is expanded, students will click Post a Reply.
Students will enter required content, and optional attachments, then click Submit.
Once students click to Submit their post, they will receive a prompt to confirm or cancel their submission. They will want to confirm this action at that time.
Note: Students are unable to edit their posts once submitted
Replies to Replies
Students can reply to other student and faculty replies. Once replies are expanded, students can click grey Reply buttons in the thread and create a third-tier discussion.
Students will enter required content, and optional attachments, then click Submit.
Once students click to Submit their reply, they will receive a prompt to confirm or cancel their submission. They will want to confirm this action at that time.
Note: Students are unable to edit their posts once submitted
Notifications and @Mentioning
Atrio’s online notification system will alert students who are engaged in Discussion threads. Notifications will be triggered by individual posts, replies, and @mentioning individuals or groups.
@Mentioning an Individual
Students and faculty can @mention each other individually, creating a notification that includes a link to the specific post.
@Mentioning Entire Class
Students and faculty can also @mention their entire class or group, which will notify all students in the section or in the group.
FACULTY DISCUSSION FUNCTIONALITY
Creating Posts
In order to add a post to a discussion, you must click Create New Post
Faculty can expand the prompt and download attachments. Faculty then enter in a required title, required content, and optional attachments:
Faculty will see their post upon refreshing their screen. They will also find the post details including date, timestamp, and a YOU indicator. Faculty can click “Expand Post” to view their post.
Editing and/or Deleting Posts
As a faculty member, you can edit and/or delete any of your own or student posts using the pencil and trash can icons
Faculty will be prompted with a pop up alerting them that this process cannot be undone, and an opportunity to either cancel or continue
Viewing Individual Student Posts
Individual student posts will reside beneath the Discussion prompt. The prompt can be expanded by clicking on the expand/collapse button to the right.
Faculty can choose to either expand or collapse all the posts and replies by clicking on the expand/collapse buttons.
Expand All view allows faculty to see all posts and replies at once on one page. Faculty can then click Collapse Post or Collapse replies either individually or in unison as they wish.
Posts and replies can be collapsed individually or in unison. Clicking Expand Post will expand the post. Clicking Expand replies will expand replies. Clicking both expand buttons will expand all in unison.
Gradebook View
Faculty can click the View and manage this discussion in the Gradebook link to view student discussion data in the Gradebook View.
The following information is for view-only guidance. For information on grading student assignments click here.
Once in Gradebook View, faculty must click any student name to view student discussion activity
Discussion Summary
The Discussion Summary includes data related to the number of individual Posts Written by the student, total number of Replies Written (including within their own posts), and Unique Posts Replied To (excluding own posts).
Below the Discussion Summary, faculty can read all posts and replies by the student, and go directly to the post or reply thread by clicking either View Post or View Thread, returning the faculty directly to the coursework discussion.
Group Discussions
Discussions can be leveraged for use by designated student groups rather than entire student classes. Small groups can interact autonomously and faculty can implement compare and contrast techniques to evaluate student understanding.
Course Leads will be responsible for enabling group grading prior to assigning students to discussion groups. Course Leads and/or Section Faculty will then be responsible for creating groups of students.
For enabling group grading instruction and guidance click HERE
STUDENT GROUP DISCUSSION FUNCTIONALITY
Student post and reply functionalities remain the same as whole class discussions with the exception of two differences:
Students will not be able to view posts from any other student group.
Students can view the members in their group by clicking the View the Members link. Students will receive a pop up displaying the photo, name, and email of the students in their group.
FACULTY GROUP DISCUSSION FUNCTIONALITY
Student post and reply functionalities remain the same with the exception of two differences:
Faculty can view the members in their group by clicking the View the Members link. Faculty will receive a pop up displaying the photo, name, and email of the students in that group.
Faculty expand and collapse functionalities will Expand/Collapse all groups or Expand/Collapse individual groups.
View Members
Expand/Collapse All
Expand/Collapse Group
GROUP DISCUSSION GRADEBOOK VIEW
Faculty can click the View and manage this discussion in the Gradebook link to view student discussion data in the Gradebook View.
The following information is for view-only guidance. For information on grading student assignments click here.
Once in Gradebook View, faculty must hover over and click any group to view student discussion activity.
Discussion Summary
The Discussion Summary includes data related to the number of individual Posts Written by each of the students in the group, total number of Replies Written (including within their own posts), and Unique Posts Replied To (excluding own posts).
Below the Discussion Summary, faculty can filter Posts and Replies by each student, and go directly to the post or reply thread by clicking either View Post or View Thread, returning the faculty directly to the coursework discussion.
Looking for more guidance? Schedule a 30 minute coaching session with a Faculty Training Specialist and mention Discussions in the comments area of the scheduling tool.
