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Discussion

Play SOLE Discussions
SOLE Discussions

Discussion allows asynchronous communication between students and instructors who want to discuss and share their teaching and learning in a virtual learning community.

To access the Discussion tool begin by clicking Communication from the Left Navigation then clicking Discussion.

In Discussion, you can:

  • Post a New Discussion
  • Read/Reply to a Discussion and Comment on others’ Replies
  • Edit/Delete a Reply/Comment
  • Use Discussions to Share files
  • Search, bookmark, subscribe, and upvote/downvote replies and comments

Instructional Uses of Discussion

Discussion has many instructional uses. Examples of Integrating the Discussion into a Course/Site:

  1. Virtual learning community - Build up a learning community so students and instructors can discuss their concerns over the Internet. Students are able to view other students' questions, and instructors can respond to students as a whole.
  2. Collaborative learning - Assign students to different projects and require them to collaborate on the project by using the discussion.
  3. Research and sharing - Request that students work on conducting research projects and post their findings (e.g. reports).
  4. Debating - Post a topic or a question on the discussion and request that students get involved in the discussion, and express their opinions.
  5. Case study - Illustrate a case in detail and ask students to participate in the case study.
  6. Expedition - Post the URL of a web site and encourage students to explore/study a place, and then share their learning experiences.

Tips for a Successful Discussion

  1. Don't just activate the discussion for a course without any purpose in mind. Always integrate the discussion into assignments or activity requirements.
  2. Give feedback in a timely manner. Giving effective feedback will motivate students to check messages and encourage them to share with others by posting messages.
  3. Allow students to access all messages in all topics. Encourage students to respond to each other.
  4. Organize the discussion frequently in order to keep a good structure.