How can you use Schoology's discussion board feature to enhance student engagement? (2024)

Before you create a discussion board, you need to have a clear idea of what you want to achieve with it. What are the learning objectives and outcomes of the discussion? How does it align with the course content and assessments? How will you measure and evaluate student performance and participation? Having a clear purpose and goals will help you design the discussion board more effectively and communicate your expectations to the students.

Schoology offers different options for creating and managing discussion boards. You can choose between standard, graded, or media album discussions, depending on the type and level of interaction you want to foster. You can also customize the settings to control the visibility, availability, moderation, and grading of the discussions. For example, you can enable or disable anonymous posting, threaded replies, liking, editing, or deleting posts, and peer review. You should choose the format and settings that best suit your purpose and goals, as well as the needs and preferences of your students.

The quality of the discussion depends largely on the quality of the prompts. A good prompt should be engaging, relevant, open-ended, and challenging. It should spark curiosity, interest, and debate among the students, and relate to the course content and objectives. It should also invite multiple perspectives, interpretations, and solutions, and require higher-order thinking skills. Avoid prompts that are too vague, narrow, factual, or opinion-based, as they may limit the depth and diversity of the discussion.

To ensure a smooth and productive discussion, you need to provide clear and consistent guidelines for the students. These guidelines should cover the expectations, roles, responsibilities, and norms of the discussion. For example, you should specify how often and how much students are expected to post and reply, what criteria and rubrics will be used to grade their contributions, what tone and language are appropriate for the discussion, and how to cite sources and avoid plagiarism. You should also explain how to use the technical features and functions of the discussion board, and where to find help and support if needed.

As an instructor, you have an important role in facilitating and monitoring the discussion. You should not dominate or interfere with the discussion, but rather guide and support the students as they explore the topic and exchange ideas. You can do this by asking follow-up questions, providing feedback, acknowledging good points, clarifying misunderstandings, summarizing key points, and linking the discussion to the course content and objectives. You should also monitor the discussion for any issues, such as technical problems, inappropriate behavior, off-topic comments, or low participation, and address them promptly and appropriately.

The discussion does not end when the deadline is over. You should encourage the students to reflect on and learn from the discussion, and to provide feedback to you and their peers. You can do this by asking them to write a self-assessment, a summary, or a reflection paper on the discussion, or by creating a survey or a poll to collect their opinions and suggestions. You should also provide feedback to the students on their performance and participation, and highlight the strengths and areas for improvement of the discussion.

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

Higher Education

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