Moderating Discussion

Use these three Evidence-Based Strategies for Moderating Discussion

Be the first to post each week

Your first post sets the tone and models the approach that students should follow. By creating this presence you can help learners feel a greater connection to the material and to the class. Your post can also fill in guidance as needed for why, what, how often and how contributions will be assessed for that week. Even a phrase simple as "I'm looking forward to reading how you respond to this week's question" lets learners see you as present with them in the class.

Cluster your responses to students.

Review the contributions of your notes, and then respond to a cluster of contributions. Synthesize what's been said so far. Close your post with a question back to the group. When your post ends with an invitation for the group to respond, you empowering them to keep contributing. This saves time because they don’t wait for your response to continue.

Post a weekly summary

At the end of the week, consider a bulleted summary with the week’s highlights from various activities and student contributions. These prove to be helpful ways to mark progress and to encourage engagement for the next week.

If there are particular deliberate practice activities that will relate to the assessment, the summary is a nice way to highlight this as well. In a few short minutes you conveyed your presence and that you’re listening and engaging with them in the experience. Consider adding audio of video occasionally to provide an even greater sense of your presence.

Tackling Challenging Content in a Discussion

If the topic is challenging or students are unsure how to respond, participation may lag. You can offset this with an opening post. Encourage students to share what they found surprising about the material. Getting the interaction started early by drawing out reactions models critical thinking and analysis and shows students that they are also sources of valuable information for one another.

Monitor Engagement Online

This aspect of online teaching impacts student satisfaction and persistence.

Respond to general student questions within 24 hours.
Compose a discussion post, announcement or grade entry on at least three days of the week.
Use an “early alert” to communicate to student support students who are struggling with academic or non-academic issues.
Create an atmosphere where students feel comfortable asking questions. Direct students to share questions or resources with the class.
Re-discover the Socratic Method. Pose follow-up questions in group discussions that probe for deeper reasoning or greater application to students’ experiences.
Analyze performance trends on assessments and work with students who appear to be struggling with assessment.
Monitor group discussion participation across the week to ensure whole class participation and communicate opportunity to participate before the deadline.
Communicate clearly with students and model your knowledge in use in practice.

How often should you post in your online course?

Feedback from you can positively impact the online student learning experience and their satisfaction with online learning. How much is enough? What is too much?

Guidelines:

The only discussion where a response to each students is recommended best practice is the introductory discussion.
Following the introduction, responding to each student is discouraged because doing so creates a dyad between you and a student where the goal of online interaction is to create dialogue between all members of the course.

Here’s a way to plan a high-impact online teaching strategy with only 2-3 posts by you each week.

Review the activity table for each week of your online course
Plan 2-3 responses on the days following student due dates
End your contributions with a question
Post a weekly summary to close the activity

Let’s look at each step more closely:

Locate the activity table of your online course, note the Discussions or other activity types where students will be making contributions that need input from you. Within the weekly lessons/units/modules sections, students may be posting content throughout the week.

Example: If there are two discussions for the week, note the day on which students are expected to make their first contribution.

First post: Based on when student contributions are due, instructors should follow with a contribution within one day of the students’ initial due date.
Example: If the students are contributing content, such as their first discussion post, on Thursday of the week, we recommend replying by Friday. Your post can summarize what students are saying so far without adding commentary. It shows you’re actively listening.
End with a question to send the dialogue back to the students. Sample: “I look forward to hearing what others have to say this week.”
Additional benefit: Your post early in the week, which students may receive via email notification, can encourage engagement in the task for the remainder of the week before they lose points, saving you time from giving students this feedback in the gradebook.
Second post: Continue this pattern for the next required contribution by the student. For example, using the scenario above, students may have a follow up contribution on Sunday. A response from you at the end of the week might focus on connecting different student contributions. Again, consider ending with a question to send the conversation back to your students.
Final/Summary post: At the end of the week, we recommend pointing out significant contributions among the group. This summary post provides closure for the lesson and helps get everyone ready for the following week.