General Strategies

One great way to interact with your students in an online environment is through a classic discussion tool. As you prepare for your students to have online discussions, this resource from TTU eLearning and Academic Partnerships on Threaded Discussions will give you some great things to consider as you develop your discussion activities.

How To Write Engaging Questions for Online Forums by Rhode, Jason. (2014). How to write engaging questions for online forums. NIU Faculty Development and Instructional Design Center Blog.

10 Tips for Effective Online Discussions by Simon, Ewidge. (2018). 10 tips for effective online discussions. EDUCAUSE Review.

Facilitating Your Online Discussions by Purdue Repository for Online Teaching and Learning. (2018). Purdue University.

Key Questions for Designing Online Discussions by The Harriet W. Sheridan Center for Teaching and Learning. (n.d.). Key questions for designing online discussions. Brown University.

A resource that you could share with students to help them participate in a discussion.

Suggestions to help create questions for discussion boards from the personal blog of Rebecca Barrett-Fox, Assistant Professor of Sociology, Arkansas State University.

Ideas to help you setting the tone in discussion boards from the personal blog of Rebecca Barrett-Fox, Assistant Professor of Sociology, Arkansas State University.

A resource that you could share with students to help them participate in a discussion.

Suggestions to help create questions for discussion boards from the personal blog of Rebecca Barrett-Fox, Assistant Professor of Sociology, Arkansas State University.

Ideas to help you setting the tone in discussion boards from the personal blog of Rebecca Barrett-Fox, Assistant Professor of Sociology, Arkansas State University.

Check out our YouTube Channel!

Strategies for Basic Online Discussions
Micah Logan, Teaching, Learning, & Professional Development Center

In this video, our colleague, Micah Logan, discusses best practices and ways to make sure they are being done in a meaningful and thoughtful way.

Tips for Online Discussion

Suzanne Tapp, Teaching, Learning, & Professional Development Center

In this video, Suzanne Tapp, Executive Director of the Teaching, Learning, and Professional Development Center at Texas Tech University, discusses Tips for Online Discussion. This tried and true online tool helps faculty and students engage with content, interpretations of the material, and their experiences. We will talk about a few different ways to set up the discussion, increase and deepen student responses to their peers, and grading strategies.