Teaching with Technology During a Disruptive Event
Please use UW-Madison's instructional continuity website as your primary source of information and assistance. Consider the information contained in this guide as additive.
5 ways technology can help you during a Disruptive Event
3. Discussion
If your course has a discussion section meeting, or if discussion is part of your lecture class meetings, leading discussion through an asynchronous online tool offers both structure and flexibility. In an online discussion, students respond to a particular prompt and to each other, as a whole class or in small groups.
The best tool for most people is Canvas Discussions
Discussions is one component of the Canvas Learning Management System. It provides a forum for the instructor to post a prompt, and facilitates students replying to the original prompt and to each other. The Canvas Discussion forum tracks who posts, and the date and time. It provides an organized way to track conversations that may span over several days or weeks.
Why do we recommend Canvas Discussions?
We recommend Canvas Discussions because you and your students already have access to a Canvas course that includes Discussions. Canvas Discussions can be used in courses with both small and large numbers of students. Please see our Canvas Primer if you are new to Canvas.
Some stand out features:
Canvas already contains your course roster, allowing you to provide access to students quickly.
Your discussion prompt can include text, links, attachments, and embedded media, and students can reply with the same types of content.
Students can be divided into groups, which is especially useful in large-enrollment courses.
Discussions can be graded.
Question: How do I start using Canvas Discussions?
To use Discussions in Canvas, you must enable Discussions in your Canvas course navigation and publish your Canvas course. These two steps make your course visible to your students, and make Discussions visible in your course navigation. Please see our Canvas Primer if you are new to Canvas.
Once Discussions are enabled in your course navigation, you and your students can access Discussions from the menu to view and post. As an instructor, you create a Discussion by posting a prompt, to which students will reply. You can specify settings for your Discussion, including setting a due date, assigning a graded Discussion, and creating a group discussion.
Question: How do I create a group Canvas Discussion?
Particularly for large enrollment courses, dividing students into groups makes discussions more productive, and easier to track and facilitate. To create a group Discussion, you must first create a Group Set and create Groups in Canvas.
Once your Groups are created, you can set any Discussion to be a group Discussion.
Question: What instructions can I provide to my students?
If your students are not accustomed to using Canvas for your course, communicate to direct them to Canvas. While they can access your Canvas course as soon as it is published, they may not know they are expected to use it.
Your students will also benefit from understanding the purpose of the discussion and your expectations. Clearly outline for students a topic and specific prompt to reply to, and indicate why the topic is important. Also provide instructions that include when students need to reply to your initial prompt, if and when they need to reply to other students, and guidelines for the quality, quantity, and format of their response.
Finally, share the Canvas Student Discussion Guides with your students to make sure they understand the technology.
Question: Are Canvas Discussions accessible and secure for instruction?
The Canvas Learning Management System provides a secure platform for interacting in your course, which is limited only to students and instructors enrolled in or instructing the course. Canvas is also built to be ADA Section 508 compliant.
Question: Are there any alternatives to Canvas Discussions?
Creating a Google Group that includes you, your students, and any other instructors can also provide an online forum. Keep in mind that you will need to invite your students individually via their @wisc.edu email address, and you should set up your Google Group using your UW Google account.*
Also Helpful: Tools to Meet Synchronously
In limited cases, you may want to preserve the ability for small groups of students to meet or communicate synchronously for discussion. Either chat or web-conferencing technology can connect instructors and students in real-time. However, synchronous options for discussions are generally not recommended for large enrollments.
Canvas Chat
Canvas Chat is another component of Canvas. It provides a live chat room, restricted to students enrolled in your course. Keep in mind that Chat is best used in smaller groups to prompt spontaneous conversation, and will be a less structured and organized experience for you and your students. Learn more on the Canvas Instructor Guide.
BBCollaborate ultra
BBCollaborate Ultra connects multiple learners simultaneously for a conversation with audio and, optionally, video. Keep in mind that having multiple participants share their webcam is best done in small groups. Dividing your students into groups using breakout rooms is recommended. Learn more on our Lecture resource page.
Zoom
Zoom provides you and your students with a place to meet synchronously (live), for lectures and smaller discussions in breakout rooms. You can share documents, create polls and surveys, and use whiteboard technology to collaborate with one another. You can access UW-Madison Zoom here.
Campus Guides and Knowledge Base Documents
*While it may be tempting to use your personal Google account, or other personal social media or communication platforms, these tools do not meet UW-Madison's standards and legal requirements for privacy, security, or intellectual property. We recommend letting campus assume responsibility and liability in these areas by using a campus-supported tool. Please see the IT Policy KnowledgeBase for more information.