Effective Online Discussion

The instructor’s engagement and involvement in the online classroom is critical. A present, engaged instructor helps create coherence in the online classroom and builds a sense of community that leads to students’ learning. Online instructors should guide their students through the course and take an active role in facilitating learning.

Studies have shown that students who feel as though they are part of a community of online learners will be more successful in online courses. Creating that community requires an intentional strategy on the part of the instructor to foster dialog and interaction between students and between students and their instructor.

The instructor’s engagement and involvement in the online classroom is critical. A present, engaged instructor helps create coherence in the online classroom and gives students the sense that they are being guided through the learning process by a subject matter expert, who is taking an active role in facilitating learning.

 

There are so many possibilities for this list! Here are a few of the ones I found to be most effective:

Confernow Links to an external site.is a service through Zoom for the administrators, staff and faculty of the California Community colleges system, and funded by a grant from the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office. It is a cloud video conferencing, simple online meetings, group messaging, and a software-defined conference room solution into one easy-to-use platform. They offer the best video, audio, and wireless screen-sharing experience across Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android, Blackberry, Zoom Rooms, and H.323/SIP room systems. Links to an external site.

Piazza Links to an external site.is free, easy to use, and takes minutes to set up.It starts with students contributing. Anyone can ask and answer questions on Piazza. With students teaching students, conversations on Piazza can continue long after office hours are over.Piazza gives students anonymity options to encourage everyone—even shy students—to ask and answer question.

 

VoiceThread Links to an external site. is a Web 2.0 discussion tool that lets learners contribute their ideas in text, audio, or video.  They can also doodle on media.  This is a big hit with online students!  The free version is limited to 3 VoiceThreads; an instructor account with unlimited creations costs $99/year.