Tools for Online Discussions
Notes to instructors
- From our experience, discussions are due date oriented. We do not offer revision opportunities for discussions after the final due date of the discussion, but we encourage students to revise up until the final due date.
For example, if an online discussion opens on Monday with initial posts due Thursday and final thoughts posted by Sunday, we encourage students to revise and participate through Sunday. After the Sunday due date, the discussion closes and we move on to the next topic.
- The language below might be useful in a syllabus or within specific assignments.
- Some online discussion assignments can be difficult to grade complete/incomplete and other grading strategies might be appropriate.
For example, we might not grade a discussion that requires a lot of research or writing using the complete/incomplete scale. It might make sense to allow for partial credit in certain circumstances.
Online Discussions
Why do we have online discussions?
Discussions are an important part of our class because they encourage learning and allow us to practice collaboration. Humans are social learners; we learn by talking about ideas and working through problems. The same is true in the workplace. Successful employees are strong collaborators, supportive colleagues, and strong communicators.
How do online discussions work?
Online discussions may look different from in-person classroom discussions because they are not happening simultaneously, but we will collaborate with and support each other as we would in a physical classroom.
Discussions matter in our online class, and if you post one time instead of multiple times, you are not having a discussion. You are presenting your point without engaging in a conversation with your peers and me. To learn from your classmates and me, you must return to the discussion board multiple times throughout the week.
Because discussion assignments are collaborative and depend on deadlines to work, extensions and revisions are not available.
How are online discussions graded?
Discussions are marked complete ✅ or incomplete 🆇 in our course.