eLearning Newsletter for November/December, 2023
Comic Transcript
Panel 1: "What Instructors think Discussion Board activities are like:" An image of angry chimpanzees throwing rocks at each other.
Panel 2: "What Students think Discussion Board activities are like:" An image of skeletons slumped in their seats around a table.
Panel 3: "What Instructional Designers think Discussion Board activities are like:" An image of ancient philosophers engaged in deep discussion.
Panel 4: "What Discussion Board activities are actually like:" An image of an iceberg viewed from the side, with the top above water and the bulk unseen below the surface, with gold and treasure embedded in the ice.
(Images generated using ChatGPT4, alt-text description generated using ChatGPT4!)
Tech Talks Special Series: Discussion Boards
Discussion board activities are so difficult to do well! They can often feel like busywork for students, and a frustrating slog for instructors. But discussions are are still one of the most potent tools in our toolbox for meaningful asynchronous classroom interaction, and they can create effective collaboration and engagement when designed carefully.
By request, we're going to try and tackle Canvas discussion boards in a series of Tech Talks, starting with some newly released features, then diving into some of the challenges of good discussion design, and ending with some examples of productive discussion activities. You can find session descriptions, dates, and links under the Professional Development tab below!
Introducing the Canvas Survival Guide
We've developed a new Canvas training resource with the goal of helping faculty and staff become more familiar with the platform, and to explore well-established best practices related to course design, instructional strategies, and communication with students. This Canvas guide is for instructors who are new to Canvas and for those who have some Canvas experience but would like additional training and helpful design tips.
The Survival Guide is organized into four modules:
- Getting started
- Interacting with students
- Assessing students
- Grading students
Each module is self-contained so that you can choose the content you need, when you need it. This course is publicly accessible, and can be shared with new faculty and staff even before they're assigned to their courses. This new guide is intended to replace our old Foundations of Canvas course. Take a look when you need some Canvas help or if you just want to explore!
Access the Canvas Survival Guide here.
Canvas Updates with Jerry
Jerry has some important notes and reminders about Canvas email addresses, winter course shells, course merging, and more. Check out the Canvas Updates tab below!
Tech Talks
Nov. 28 @ 1:05pm: Canvas Discussions/Announcements Redesign
This will be the first in our sequence of three Tech Talks in which we'll explore the roles, challenges, and opportunities associated with online Discussions. Instructure has been working on a Discussion redesign and has added some new features to the Canvas Discussion tool. In this week's Tech Talk, we'll take a look at these new features, including the ability to view the edit history of posts, the option to have anonymous discussions, as well as the ability to tag others and quote others' replies. Join us as we tour these updated features and kick off a conversation that explores strategies for effective online discussions!
Join the Nov. 28 conversation on Zoom
Links to an external site.
View the Nov. 28 conversation on YouTube
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Dec. 5 @ 1:05pm: Discussions are bad, but do they have to be?
Does the mention of “discussion board assignment” elicit a collective eye roll, sigh, or sense of dread from your students? Perhaps from you, too? In this session we’ll explore strategies for improving the discussion-board experience. We'll discuss the importance of setting a clear purpose, expectations, and structure as well as ideas for creating effective question prompts that encourage thoughtful responses. We’re convinced that asynchronous discussions can be an engaging and meaningful addition to our online and on-ground classrooms. Come join our conversation!
Join the Dec. 5 conversation on Zoom
Links to an external site.
View the Dec. 5 conversation on YouTube
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Dec. 12 @ 1:05pm: Building Better Discussion Activities
In this third session in our sequence focusing on improving discussion boards, we’ll discuss some example discussion-board prompts that use divergent question prompts, require critical thinking, and have the potential to elicit greater interest and deeper responses from students. We’ll also talk about the role of instructors in facilitating discussions. We hope to see you there!
Join the Dec. 12 conversation on Zoom
Links to an external site.
View the Dec. 12 conversation on YouTube
Links to an external site.