Get Your Online Students Talking: 

How to build a community of engaged learners with better discussion boards

Shannon Brenner, Instructional Designer

Every day, nearly three out of every four Americans are on social media sites. We scroll through photos of kids, pets, dinners, and vacations on Instagram. We check to see what athletes, politicians, and celebrities are posting on Twitter. We check out micro videos of dancing, dogs, and duets on TikTok. Why have these digital platforms sucked so many of us in, and what does this phenomenon  have to do with online learning?

The short answer is: connection. Whether it’s family from far away or strangers who share a common interest, social media allows us to feel closer to other human beings. But, when it comes to online classrooms, students aren’t connecting with each other the way they do on social media. 

It’s time we change that.

We need to provide our online learners with the space to build a community. According to a study in the International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education, “For online students, structural influences such as course design significantly impact on their learning experiences. Online student engagement can be supported by a well-designed course which promotes interaction and social presence.”

We can start by removing the stakes on our online discussions. NICC has a policy requiring instructors to meet regular and substantive interaction guidelines. If you're like me, you have likely been operating under the “initial post + 2 replies” philosophy. If so, I bet your eyes glaze over when you grade these discussions, which is probably how the students feel when they write them.

The reason for the weekly discussion policy is to ensure the instructors meet their requirement for regular interaction with students. There is no requirement that says we have to assess anything in those discussions. But, for some reason, nearly every discussion prompt that I see attempts to do just that.

We are trying to do too much with online discussions. We want students to engage, but we also want them to think critically, make arguments, cite readings, take positions, and demonstrate understanding. It’s simply too much. Our students are so bogged down trying to get their posts right that the human interaction element is removed entirely from the equation. According to a study that analyzed data from semi-structured interviews with online instructors, “It is fundamental to create an environment in which students become willing to participate, collaborate, and contribute with their reflections.” I think the way we do that is to make discussions less intimidating and lower the stakes.