Designing and Facilitating Online Discussion

Since at least the time of Socrates, educators have understood the value of discussion in the classroom . What is there to do, though, when a class is entirely online, meaning the students are often in different locations, even different states or countries? One powerful tool in the online educator's arsenal is the online discussion board. Done correctly, online discussions can harness many of the same benefits Socrates himself enjoyed, without any unpleasant hemlock related side effects. Moreover, as Eric Brunsell notes, because of the way online message boards are set up, students benefit from more processing time in formulating responses than they would in a traditional classroom discussion, and this can have the effect of reducing student anxiety, You might find that students who never participate in class blossom when given the opportunity. This page will provide a quick overview of some best practice for using these tools, and at the end you'll find some additional resources if you want to dig deeper.

So you've come up with a brilliant prompt... It's aligned perfectly with your course objectives, it's high on Bloom's Taxonomy , and it's so clear NASA contacted you about using it as the lens on their next space telescope. Now you need to make sure the discussion goes smoothly, and accomplishes all you had planned. Below are some ideas to help keep your students on track, engaged, and getting the most out of your activity:

• Establish expectations immediately (Volker-Morris, R, 2013)

Before the first post, you should have a clear rubric of how students will be graded, and share it with them. You should also explicitly instruct your students in proper "netiquette" (how they should behave in discussions), so they don't feel like the guy on the left. Let them know how, and how often, they should be responding. Use exemplars.