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.