Documentation:Tips for Fostering Asynchronous Online Discussion

Tips for Effective Facilitation

Create icebreaker activities. This gives the everyone in the discussion an opportunity to get to know each other. Know and use the students’ names.
Pose a good question. A good discussion starts with a good discussion question. Avoid questions that read like exam questions. Provide students with a debate prompt. Ask students to express an opinion and back up their position by applying course concepts. For further ideas, see Stanford University's Designing Effective Discussion Questions.
Use open-ended questions. Ask for clarification, examples, and definitions rather than giving answers. Stimulate further debate by offering ideas and suggesting resources. The goal is for everyone to feel a sense of ownership over the discussion.
Make Connections. Identify students who are good at making connections between discussion comments/posts; create “weaving” posts to link other good ideas together to advance the discussion (“V and X make a good point,… What do others think?”). These regular posts will keep the conversation moving forward. However it is critical to give enough time to let the discussion develop without intervention, but to guide the discussion if it goes off course or is lagging.
Invite Participation. Invite students to address one another directly and not always “go through” the instructor of facilitator.Try not to dominate the discussion - don't immediately respond to all questions or comments but instead allow time and space for others to respond.

Instructor Presence

Provide structure and expectations. Explicitly specify your expectations for content and quality. Provide clear guidelines for participation. Discuss them beforehand. Students need clear parameters for discussion posts (i.e., specify length, frequency, timeliness, due dates, and specific guidelines to follow). You should also clarify expectations around language (e.g. level of formality, use of slang and emoticons, and overall behaviour -- to be courteous and respectful of one another.
Provide opportunity for everyone to be heard. In large classes, divide students into small groups of 6-8.
Use your presence to motivate and encourage students. Perhaps one of the most important aspects for the instructor who uses online discussions is teacher presence. This happens by posting the discussion questions, directing the groups in the discussions, and by providing feedback on how the discussion is going. The instructor’s presence helps to keep students focused on the task at hand and can help to refine discussions so that the conversations progress past basic information sharing to knowledge construction and, ideally, application and integration of the knowledge. Students who are able to make connections to previous knowledge and experience see the relevance of the material and experience increased motivation. When instructors explicitly recognize and reward this level of learning, they can also encourage further knowledge growth.
Encourage student ownership of the discussion. Just as in a traditional classroom discussion, students need to be reminded to talk to each other directly, not through you as the instructor. Aim for your participation and feedback to be prompt but modest. Your presence online should not dominate the discussion; rather, it should encourage discussion between students. If students direct their responses to you, redirect those questions and comments to the group.
Monitor the discussion. Instructor involvement and feedback are associated with higher level of student participation but it’s best to encourage students to respond to one another, otherwise they will look to you for the definitive response. In groups where participation is very low, contact students to see if they are havintg technical difficulties, or re-assign group members to other groups.
Provide direct instruction to the students. Direct instruction and feedback to the groups is sometimes necessary to keep them on track with the discussion. This can also help to diagnose misconceptions, which may impair a group's ability to learn effectively from the discussion. A summarizing final comment can be a helpful way to sum up and end a discussion. Overall, the instructor’s comments and questions to the groups can be invaluable and can serve as a model for how the discussion should unfold.
Provide access to resources. The instructor can provide access to a wealth of resources which students can be referred to for further individual or group study. Hyperlinks to online resources can be especially helpful, as they are easy for students who are already online to access.
Provide technical assistance. The instructor may be asked to provide direct instruction about technical issues related to accessing the conferencing system, manipulation of the conferencing software, operation of other tools or resources and the technical aspects of dealing with any of the subject related tools and techniques. Have a plan in place to handle these requests.

Resources & Links

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Parts of this resource have been adapted from Collaborative Online Learning: Fostering Effective Discussions. Centre for Teaching Excellence, University of Waterloo. Shared under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License