Communication & Creation

This week, we'll look at two aspects of online coursework: asynchronous discussions, and more traditional student composition assignments.

Online message boards make asynchronous discussion efficient, and may offer additional possibilities beyond traditional classroom conversations. (In D2L, individual discussions are called "Discussion Topics," and we'll use that term consistently here.)

Collaborative annotation, which allows students to contribute collective marginalia, highlighting, and other callouts to a course text, offers an experience exclusive to online academics.

Students have been "handing in" work for many decades (centuries?) before the internet, but web-based file exchange systems can streamline the process of collecting, grading, and returning written work, thereby helping you focus more on providing meaningful mentoring to students doing creative work.