Canvas Groups: Gated Discussions

Gated & Guided: Structure & Interaction in Online Discussions

Michael Zalot, Cedar Crest College

Abstract:

Online threaded discussions remain a core tool for online and hybrid course delivery, but present unique challenges from both the faculty and student perspectives. Faculty can enhance the student experience of online discussions by starting with multi-part, open-ended questions that allow for expression of individual experiences and knowledge to generate interest and hooks for student responses. These kinds of questions deter plagiarism by fostering engagement, unique responses, acceptance of other viewpoints, and additional depth. Faculty must also see clear expectations and criteria for appropriate interaction. Students sometimes feel that simple praise of another student's work can qualify as appropriate engagement; this can be deterred by setting appropriate expectations.

By providing a gated discussion environment, where students cannot see any responses until posting their own, faculty create even more space for answer individuation and ultimately stronger engagement. Students never feel that there is a single "right" answer, or that the initial question is "used up" by previous responses. The role of faculty in guiding the discussions from that point as an ongoing concern requires specific interaction strategies, including probing, open-ended questions, and potentially leveraging round-robin answer patterns. Finally, the development of online team assignments is addressed, including managing with students who have various levels of commitment to the course by clarifying all expectations in the first week, allocating team captains, and allocating points for leadership as a "class within a class". Examples are provided using Canvas Groups, but most concepts can be leveraged to varying degrees on other modern LMS platforms.

Tools:

Canvas Gated Discussions

Canvas LMS provides an integrated system for class discussions, allowing both instructors and students to start and contribute to as many discussion topics as.

Key Terms/Tags:

Flipped classroom, online discussions, asynchronous learning

Directions for Canvas Gated Discussions:

1. If your institution does not use Canvas, you can create a free account on the Canvas website. Otherwise, log in to your Canvas account.
2. Once you create an account and verify your institutional e-mail address, click “Courses” on the left-hand side of the screen. Create a new course.
3. Within the course, select “Discussions” and click “New Discussion” with the blue plus sign button in the upper-right corner.
4. After developing a discussion post, scroll down to “Options” at the bottom of the screen. Check “Users must post before seeing replies.”
5. Save and Publish your discussion thread.

Resources:

• Canvas Discussion Posts Instructor User Guide