Content Design and Development
Online Discussions
Educational technologies can encourage and facilitate a variety of interaction and teaching styles. Though many instructors are particularly familiar with solitary teaching techniques where learners attend lectures and interact with content such as library resources, databases, reading journals, etc., this section focuses on teaching techniques that encourage and facilitate peer interaction.
Small group assignments in your course provide students an opportunity to learn from their peers, interact in a team environment, brainstorm and debate issues and ideas, and role-play. Two possible uses of groups include:
- Discussion Groups focus on issues related to course content and require higher-order thinking skills. The instructor facilitates the discussion, guiding and encouraging participation when needed. These groups may be a required aspect of the course, accounting for some participation grade or overall value.
- Project Groups are generally small groups that interact to accomplish a shared goal (e.g., project, paper, presentation). Projects may be submitted to the instructor or used as a learning activity for the entire class, possibly including a group presentation followed by a discussion.
The following video discusses strategies for creating and evaluating effective online discussions.
Featuring: Tracy Penny-Light (Waterloo), Peter Thompson (Carleton), MJ D’Elia (Guelph).