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| Image via Pixabay |
As learning with mobile technology becomes more commonplace in our k-12 learning spaces, digital discussion forums are expanding opportunities for our students to share and communicate. There are several benefits for using this platform in place of, or in addition to, a traditional classroom discussion:
- gives all students a voice, even those intimidated or unmotivated by a traditional classroom discussion
- discussions are not limited by time or length---set up properly, they encourage students to continue conversations beyond the walls of the classroom
- encourages critical thinking skills- fosters the organization of thoughts around a topic before responding
- delivers content from another perspective
- students gain experience using a professional communication practice
- students practice writing short, meaningful posts
In addition to the traditional question/answer prompted discussion, there are several additional ways to use this tool:
- at the start of a unit or concept, use a discussion forum to assess pre-existing knowledge and misconceptions
- have students summarize points of a reading
- share opinions on a topic
- use as an exit ticket or formative assessment tool
- collaborative research- students each post 1-2 applicable links to share with class
- pose a discussion with an outside mentor or expert
Some best practices to consider when designing a discussion forum:
- plan your forum to last at least one week to allow for flexibility in both reading and responding
- include multi-media to increase engagement (video, powerpoints, links, images, audio, etc.)
- model how to cite sources and give credit
- teach students expectations of a quality response--this is not social media, but an academic forum (proper grammar, academic conversation, on-task posts and comments)
- be involved--the teacher should comment and model proper digital citizenship
- avoid public praise or corrrection
*There are many platforms today that allow for these digital discussion forums. In our district, we use Schoology. Google Classroom and Edmodo are additional options for a k-12 classroom.
