Strategies for Promoting Discussion in Your Online Course

A dynamic atmosphere can develop in an online class when participants interact and communicate with each other and in groups, and the collaborative efforts of the participants can create an enhanced combined effect compared to the sum of their individual efforts. In fact, some instructors consider the synergy generated through online discussion to be the most important learning tool in their class, enhancing the learning outcomes.

How can you foster synergy in your online classroom? A critical element in this process is to develop a sense of community in your class, and online discussions have a vital role in creating and sustaining this sense of community. Below are techniques you can use to help create an online environment where your students will want to contribute and keep up with the pace of the discussions.

Communicate your expectations
One of the most effective ways to promote student participation is to make it required and graded. In your syllabus, clearly articulate your expectations and grading criteria for student participation including a required minimum number of weekly student contributions to the discussions. Grade both for the quality of the postings as well as the quantity. To be an effective motivator, participation should constitute between 10-40% of the student's overall grade.

Provide a weekly agenda
In addition to the course schedule you provide in your syllabus with inclusive dates of your weekly course modules and topics, provide a weekly agenda at the start of each module which includes assignments for the week and due dates. This will help students stay on track and be aware of what is expected of them. A good place to include the weekly agenda is in the Assignments area of your Blackboard classroom, and this can be coordinated with the Calendar feature as well.

Match the discussions to the course content
Start discussion topics that will help students focus on the course material and share ideas as they process the assignments, readings, projects and exercises. Student-to-student interactions will not necessarily happen without your deliberate interaction, so you should structure planned opportunities for interaction during your course. The organization of discussion forums in your classroom should reflect the class structure and scheduled sequence of topics in the syllabus. For example, you might consider creating a discussion forum for each week of your course. This will help your students stay focused and on track.

Start the major topic threads yourself
Often students need structure to get the discussions off to a good start. It's a good idea for the instructor to start all major topic threads, so students will know where to post and feel comfortable jumping in to the discussion.

Establish a pattern of frequent response
After you start the discussions, participate on a regular basis -- your behavior will be a role model for your students. Rather than engaging in long, concentrated visits to your classroom, it is best to participate in short, but frequent intervals at least 3-5 days/week. When your students see that you are contributing to the discussions regularly and that you are visible and available, they will be more likely to participate in the discussions themselves. In contrast, when students see their instructor rarely engages with them, they will be discouraged from posting questions and comments to the class and think, "why bother?"

Create a forum for introductions, casual conversations, and Q & A
In addition to weekly forums for discussion on the course materials and topics, provide an initial forum (called the Water-cooler, lounge, pub, cafe, etc.) where students can introduce themselves to you and their classmates. By greeting all students individually in the first week of class in this forum, you can establish a supportive learning community where students feel they are part of a group. This same forum can be used later during the course for students to post messages of interest that may not be directly related to the weekly class discussions. This will again serve to strengthen the learning community and provide a venue for off-topic postings which will in turn keep the weekly discussions focused on the course content. Finally, it is also a good idea to provide a separate forum for students to ask you and each other questions about the course, procedures, policies or other issues. This can help to reduce individual emails sent to you since all communications will be concentrated in one place, and one answer that you provide can suffice for the whole class.

Facilitate - don't dominate
Good communication requires dialogue - not monologue. It is key that you limit your participation to a level you can sustain and that your contributions complement and expand on ideas generated by the participants. Don't try to respond to every posting in the classroom (even in a small class of 20 students, this is not a sustainable pattern to adopt). Try to encourage your students to interact with each other, not only with you. You can do this by tying related messages in a thread together in one posting, and making comments that address several students instead of answering each one individually. Also on these occasions you can ask follow up questions that stimulate further discussion and invite students to respond to their classmates ideas, "Can anyone else add to Kent or Roy's comments?" "Did anyone reach a different conclusion than Sabrina on this issue?"

Set limits on message length
Messages posted to the discussion board should not be more than 3-4 paragraphs long. This serves two purposes:

• It encourages student contribution because they won't feel obligated to write long responses
• Readers begin to lose interest and focus if a message is too long.

Be aware of different cultural patterns and communication styles
For example, students from some cultures may not relate well to questions requiring volunteered responses. In this case, a question like, "Anyone care to comment on this?" might be changed to "Please post your response to the topic by Wednesday." Humor is culturally specific and may not be perceived the same by everyone. Be aware that participants will have different learning styles. Some will learn more easily in groups, while others will excel when working independently. Provide a variety of activity-types allowing for differences in learning styles. Finally, some students may not feel comfortable sharing personal experiences while others find this process quite natural. You can respect these differences by offering options to your students in the way you frame your questions. For example, "Can you relate this to your own experience or one you have heard or read about?"

Make the activities interesting and relevant to your students’ needs
Give students a reason to become actively involved in a discussion topic by appealing to their life experiences, interests and ambitions. Sometimes it may be appropriate to let your students choose their own topics for research papers and essays. They can use their chosen topics as examples in the class discussions, thus personalizing the course content to their needs or interests.

Stagger assignment due dates
For example, make discussion questions due on the third day of the week instead of the last day. This gives participants ample time to read and comment on their classmates’ postings before the next course module begins. If you make discussion questions due on the last day of the week, you risk that your students will wait until the end of the week to submit their ideas and opportunities for class-level discussions will be diminished.

Require a hand-in assignment
Either a group project or individual paper -- This requirement will ensure that students integrate, synthesize and apply the information that has been discussed in the discussion forum. It can also boost participation if the discussions are closely tied to the assignment. One instructor requires students to use at least two quotes by fellow classmates in their final essay for the course. In this situation, students will be eager to participate and bring the level of discussion up to a high enough quality to generate good quotes that will enhance their own individual papers.

Give feedback
Provide plenty of timely, constructive, and quality feedback, and where appropriate, add to a student’s answer engaging him/her in more dialogue. When the instructor participates in the discussion, providing critique, encouragement, and feedback, students cannot help but become more involved. For example:

• Thank students publicly for comments contributed to the discussions that show particular insight or depth. This will serve to model the types of responses and critical thinking you want from your students as well as give positive reinforcement to the student who contributed the message.
• Encourage participants who have submitted shallow responses to consider a more in-depth contribution by asking for specific details pertaining to their posting, or for an example from their workplace.

Issues of student behavior
Keep the atmosphere in your discussion forum respectful and supportive. Harsh words submitted to an online discussion forum will be more hurtful since they will remain there until they are removed. Your institution may have its own code of student conduct which you can simply reinforce, but depending on the nature of your course, you may want to post an additional policy to govern communications in the classroom. Show your students how you expect them to behave online by setting the tone in your communications with them in the discussion forum.

Distance Education Teaching Strategies, An AskERIC Response (2002)
http://www.askeric.org/cgi-bin/printresponses.cgi/Virtual/Qa/archives/Educational_Technology/Distance_Education/distedtips.html