Just like in the classroom, online discussions can be engaging and lively, or lackluster and full of awkward silences. Luckily there are some easy tips to help foster exciting conversation.

Double Due Dates

Most faculty want their online discussions to be just that – discussions, not monologues. In an asynchronous environment, it is important to create a schedule that allows discussion to flourish, and often that requires two dues dates – one for students to make an initial post, and another for students to interact with each other’s posts.

A common statement that gives structure to an online discussion could be …

By Thursday at 8am, answer the question above with 2-3 paragraphs using concepts and citations from the text or your own research.
By Monday at 8am, reply to at least two classmates and continue the conversation by challenging their answer, asking more questions, or adding to their understanding.

Set Expectations

In face-to-face discussions body language, facial expressions and verbal cues can signal to students that they are meeting your expectations in regard to their participation. In the online environment, those cues still need to be there, but have to be explicit. Most faculty find offering specific guidelines can be a good way of letting students know how to be successful.

An example of discussion guidelines could be:

In order to be successful in this discussion you should consider the following criteria.

• Content Understanding: Address, expand & reflect on all elements of the initial prompt
• Application of Material: Integrate material into initial post & replies
• Engagement and Interaction: contribute more than the minimum number of times & contribute to at least one conversation that stimulates further thought & discussion
• Language: use sophisticated online discussion techniques such as humor, encouragement or questioning.

Instructor Presence

For online discussions, it’s possible to stay true to your teaching style. If in face-to-face class discussions, you like to jump in and question, correct, redirect regularly, you should continue to do so in your online courses. If you tend to be more restrained in your participation and let the students run the conversation, your online presence can be similar.

Regardless of your strategies however, students are missing the body language and active listening of the face-to-face class. So you may find you need to be more conscious of your participation in the discussions online.

Some strategies to do this include

• Highlighting a particularly strong, insightful comment
• Questioning a comment that needs further elaboration
• Tactfully clarifying comments that are misleading or incorrect
• Weaving disparate discussions together and connecting it to the learning
• Asking students to look at the discussion from a different perspective
• Questioning students about the implication of their opinions
• Summarizing a discussion thread

Click here to see other articles in our series on Asynchronous Discussions. 

Asynchronous discussions can be engaging, rich and challenging, but just like in a face-to-face class, thought-provoking, open-ended questions and prompts are a big part of how successful a discussion can be. Consider some of the following approaches in order to promote strong, exciting discussion in your forum.

Shades of Grey

Questions that are ‘grey’, rather than ‘black-and-white’, lend themselves to more interesting, deeper discussions. If a question has a ‘right’ answer, once a single student has stated the correct response, there’s not much for the rest of the group to add. On the other hand, prompts that offer a spectrum of answers or opinions are far more engaging to participate in.

Some examples of these type of prompts include:

• In the article “What Leaders Really do”, there is a sentence that says,
  “Motivation and inspiration energize people, not by pushing them in the right direction as control mechanisms do but by satisfying basic human needs for achievement, a sense of belonging, recognition, self-esteem, a feeling of control over one’s life, and the ability to live up to one’s ideals.” What does this sentence mean to you? How would you interpret the statement?
• When is it appropriate to use theater, radio playlists, and social media for risk communication? When is it ill-advised? Include links to examples of both.

Court Controversy

Controversial prompts and topics lead to more lively discussions. Allowing students to explore and debate the deep issues in your discipline strengthen their engagement and understanding of the topic. If you’re concerned about unbalanced discussions, you can assign positions to each half of the class.

Some examples of these type of prompts include:

• Why do you think the Clinton health reform failed but the Obama health reform succeeded (at least so far)? Relate your response to readings or research you’ve conducted.
• Can a team be too diverse? Support your opinion with citations from the book, external readings and/or real-world examples.

Personal Experiences

Students bring a wealth of experiences and knowledge to every class. Asking them to consider and share their personal experiences through the lens of your course can be a great way of creating peer-to-peer learning opportunities and a strong learning community.

Some examples of these type of prompts include:

• If asked by someone a month from today “what did you learn from the study of the US Healthcare system and its Administration?” how would you respond? What take-aways do you leave this class with?
• Think of a time where you attempted to change a habit. Consider and analyze, through the lens of this week’s learning, what approach you took, where you were successful and why, and where you were unsuccessful and why.

Show and Tell

Ask your students to bring something to ‘show and tell’ by introducing a topic and assigning students to find and share supplemental resources that strengthens their (and their classmate’s) learning.

Some examples of these type of prompts include:

• Think about a current event that seems to you like it might relate to operations management. If you have a link to a news article, please include it. Write a short paragraph about why and how you think it relates. Read and comment on two other students’ posts. What do you know about the news article they shared? Use this opportunity to connect and network with your online classmates.
• Graphs are everywhere. Some are good, some are bad, and many are ugly! I’ve found some examples for us to discuss, but before I do that, I would like you to search the internet for one graph that you think does a good job of visually representing a set of data and/or one that doesn’t.
• Please pick an emerging technology of your choice (e.g. drones, blockchain, 3D printing, Internet of Things….) and make a prediction on how it could impact supply chains and operations management in the 21st Century.

Click here to see other articles in our series on Asynchronous Discussions.