On July 17th, Digital Learning Strategist Millie Tullis facilitated a Workshop Wednesday session dedicated to designing engaging discussion boards in Canvas. The training explores the pedagogical benefits of engaging discussion boards, common challenges associated with designing them, best practices, and some online discussion board tools.
Discussion boards are collaborative classroom activities with quite a few pedagogical benefits. They allow students to create community and connections among themselves. Additionally, discussion boards can aid in increasing students’ academic self-sufficiency and help students develop certain soft skills, including critical thinking.
Designing engaging student discussion boards according to best practices will set you up for a more productive experience. It is important to establish clear expectations for engagement. Creating a consistent discussion board design will help minimize learners’ confusion. Explicit connection to course materials can help students better understand how the activity will help enhance their learning. Other best practices include sharing communication expectations early on and providing a netiquette policy to guide online interactions between students.
Following this outline of best practices, Tullis discusses a few online discussion board tools educators can utilize to make their posts more engaging. Some tools include Yellowdig, Perusall, Harmonize, Lucid, and Kaltura.
Overall, this session provides audiences with valuable information regarding the benefits of student discussion boards and sheds light on a few different methods for designing engaging discussion boards.
Did you miss the training session and find yourself wanting to learn more? Don’t worry; you can access the recorded training by following the link below!
Designing Engaging Discussion Boards
Prepare your courses for the Fall semester with us! Whether you are revising a course you’ve used in the past or building a new course from scratch, this workshop will answer your questions and give some helpful tips to prepare you for the upcoming semester. When registering, choose whether to have a specific topic covered, enter your question, or both.
Facilitated by Millie Tullis, Digital Learning Strategist.
Registration: Workshop Wednesday: Fall Semester Prep.
Review our Summer 2024 Events Calendar to see what Online Instruction Development opportunities await!
We have a robust lineup of topics and live training formats to support your use of Canvas and other e-learning tools. Topics cover demonstrations of using Kaltura, engaging your students, and workshops to get your Canvas site ready to teach!
All of our live training is recorded. Registrants will automatically receive a link to that day’s video after it has been processed.
Contact Millie Tullis with any questions regarding these sessions.
Clemson Online – Where Tech and Teaching Meet
This follow-up session demonstrates additional program functions, including new item banks, stimulus questions, and New Quiz reports.
Check out the recording of this Quick Hits session dedicated to understanding the New Quizzes feature in Canvas.
Learn more about quiz settings, question groups, and using Kaltura quizzes in Canvas.
