Discussions

General Tips (Synchronous Conversations)

• Have a backup plan ready (like a discussion board), in case something goes wrong for students during a synchronous session.
• Consider the time zones your students are in when deciding times for synchronous sessions.
• Before each discussion, tell students what topics will be covered, how they should prepare, and what they will be expected to do.

What are the benefits?  (Synchronous Conversations — Microsoft Teams)

• You can set up discussion spaces of varying group sizes called channels that cover different topics, with students able to participate in one or multiple channels.
• Students can communicate quickly with each other using the real-time chat, which can help quieter students who may not engage verbally to participate more.
• Microsoft Teams also supports document collaboration, where files can be edited by multiple people at once. This feature can be helpful if you want discussions to result in a specific shared deliverable.

Zoom Breakout Rooms

Create breakout rooms during a Zoom session to split up the class for smaller discussions.

What are the benefits?  (Synchronous Conversations — Zoom Breakout Rooms)

• In breakout rooms, students can interact with a smaller group of classmates using audio, video chat, whiteboards, and screen-sharing.
• You can assign students to the rooms manually, let Zoom choose the students automatically, or let students choose a room themselves.
• You can broadcast a message to all breakout rooms at once, to provide a question for discussion or countdown the remaining discussion time.

General Tips (Asynchronous Discussions)

• Prior to opening a discussion, set ground rules that provide clear instructions and expectations for participation and etiquette.
• You can direct students to other rules for being a respectful online presence on the Keep Learning site.
• Have a purpose or focus for each discussion to promote thoughtful dialogue.
• For large courses, consider setting up separate discussions for smaller groups, so students can feel heard and meaningfully interact.

Canvas Discussions

Enable conversations for the entire class or for specific groups right in your Canvas course.

What are the benefits?  (Asynchronous Discussions — Canvas Discussions)

• You can create discussions for everyone or use group discussions that only group members can access, reply to, and see postings for.
• You can require students to reply to a discussion before they can see other replies.
• Discussions can be ungraded or graded, and graded discussions will sync automatically with the Canvas Gradebook.

What are the benefits?  (Asynchronous Discussions — Piazza)

• Questions and answers on Piazza can be collaboratively edited and you can see how they evolve over time.
• Piazza can be accessed through Canvas — as part of the Course Navigation and/or included as a link in a module.
• Piazza has other interactive elements like polls, which can be included in discussions to increase engagement.

UBC Blogs Comments

Invite students to share their opinions and work on a course or individual website, which you and other students can then comment on.

What are the benefits?  (Asynchronous Discussions — UBC Blogs Comments)

• If students host discussions using posts and comments on their own blog, they will be able to keep these conversations after the course is over.
• UBC Blogs allows content to be posted publicly, which can support discussions that include communities or individuals outside of the course.