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Asynchronous, text-based discussion can provide rich learning opportunities , offer greater flexibility to students, and and can be simpler be simple to set up.
Why asynchronous?
Synchronous Live, or 'synchronous' learning activities and assessments can disadvantage students when they are based in different locations and and time zones . For example, a quiz set for 2pm 2 pm London time will open in Australia at 1am1 am.
Asynchronous discussion isn’t just a fallback for a fall-back for when we can’t offer synchronous learning and has and has its own distinct own distinct advantages, includingincluding:
- More time for students to gather their thoughts, collect evidence, plan their response responses and reflect on other contributions. This can greatly improve the quality of contribution and discussiondiscussion;
- More accessible to students who find it difficult to speak up , have specific have specific learning differences , such as dyslexia , or for whom English is not their first language;
- Forums are simple to set up and participate in at your own pace.
To hear first-hand the benefits and experiences of using asynchronous discussion forums, watch the watch the following short video (run time: 6m 41s, courtesy of UNSW, Australia).
General principles
Discussion forums should have a clear purpose and and build towards towards an outcome so so that students are motivated to participate. To deliver a successful forum activity you should:
- Establish clear expectations in terms of frequency of moderation frequencyby tutors, required post length, and peer peer feedback etiquette. ;
- Provide a prompt or trigger to provoke conversationa prompt or trigger to provoke conversation;
- ModerateModerate and scaffold discussion to keep things on things on track, encourage participation, draw out salient pointse participation, draw out salient points, ask follow up -up questions and clarify misconceptions misconceptions;
- Provide a summary to allow students to draw conclusions and act and act as a reference point for later study.
Avoid grading discussion posts as as this may deter students from posting developing ideas or or cause them to overly plan and perfect their posts. Instead , consider consider having the discussion discussion feed into future assessment . For an example of this see the Critical Review see the Critical R eview section below.
Moodle recommendations
- Use Advanced Forums ; they are similar to regular Moodle forums but allow you to search for author authors or keywords, and there is a quick summary report so you can gauge participation.
- In large cohorts, assign students to Moodle Groups to make the discussion more manageable.
- When setting up a Forum:
- Add brief but clear instructions to the Description. This is the first thing students see when they open the Forum.
- Use Discussion
- lockingto make forums read-only after a set amount of time. This keeps the discussion focused.
- Consider setting the Group mode
- (under Common module settings) for your Forums
- to Visible Groups so that students can see, but not post, to the discussion of other groups. This can allow students to see a range of responses and feedback. The alternative is to set Group mode
- to Separate Groups
- in which students can't see each other's group discussion.
- Release your forum on a specific date by using Restrict access .
- Integrate your forum with other Moodle activities ;
- to spark discussion, a dd a
- reading using
- Video . After the discussion, use the
- Choice activity to poll student's
- on whether the forum
- debate changed their view.
Example approaches
Examples of asynchronous discussion activities Asynchronous discussion forums can be used to teach and support teach and support a range of assessment tasks are of assessment tasks. Some examples are given below. These examples can examples can be adapted for adapted for a wide variety of academic disciplines and disciplines and are not intended to be prescriptivebe prescriptive.
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Aim and and d escription The aim is to develop student critical Develop student critical analysis and communication skills. Students write Students write a critique of a text, either written or multimedia, and post and post it to the discussion forum. They must then comment then comment on each other’s critiques using critiques using criteria or guidance set by the tutor. The The activity could occur multiple occur multiple times in a term but term but should be manageable to the student. Suggested assessment Discussion forum feedback on feedback on clarity of argument, evidence, communication skills, and grammar feeds grammar feeds forward into a summative critical review. Actions required by learner Actions required by learner Write a critical review of a reading, engage with other student's reviews. Actions required by tutor Actions required by tutor(s)
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Aim and descriptionThe aim is to have and description Have students apply their knowledge in an authentic scenarioan authentic scenario. Students are given a scenario and a series of case questions that they must respond to in questions that they must respond to in the discussion forum. Once they have provided their own answers, they must provide constructive feedback on other students’ posts. student posts. Suggested assessment Students are assessed on the quality and quantity of their posts, including proving providing a complete response to the the case or scenario, using relevant evidence, clarity of expression, grammar, making the minimum number of substantial posts, and their ability to contribute rather than dominate the discussion. Actions Required by Learner Respond to case scenario and questions in forum in a substantive and timely manner. Make a constructive response to another learnerstudent's post. Actions Required by Tutor(s)
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Tim Neumann has kindly provided an example on running a live online debate online debate with 2 groups on Moodle. The The example provided below substitutes an asynchronous an asynchronous discussion forum for the live debate and includes forum for the live debate and includes a potential setup for when there are more than two debate groups. Aim and description The aim is to have students practice Have students practice their critical thinking, persuasive persuasive writing, group work and communication skills. Students are divided into groups “For” and “Against” and are assigned to a thesis statement to Students are divided into groups “For” and “Against” and are assigned to a thesis statement to debate in a discussion forum. Suggested assessment Student groups Student groups are assessed on their understanding of the thesis statement, presentation of their argument, and group workthe thesis statement, presentation of their argument, and group work. Students are also assigned to one debate to one debate to read, and vote pre and post debate. Actions Required by Learner Critically analyse thesis statement from analyse thesis statement from an assigned point of view; develop arguments and anticipate counterarguments. Organise argument structure and order develop arguments and anticipate counterarguments. Organise argument structure and order of speaking. Take Take turns in Groups, posting to the forum opening groups, posting to the forum opening arguments, followed by speaker arguments, and finally closing arguments. Actions Required by Tutor(s)
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Have students share and discuss their experiences with one |
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another to facilitate reflective |
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thinking and peer learning. The experience could be a time on placement, |
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a common experience or |
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a general theme. Suggested assessment |
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Although discussion posts are not assessed, they can be used as evidence in a summative reflective blog. Actions Required by Learner |
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Write a reflective first-hand account |
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of an experience. |
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Post a reply to at least one other post. |
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Actions Required by Tutor(s) |
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Aim |
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and description Encourage empathetic and critical thinking by having |
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students research and act out |
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given roles. |
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A student's responses must demonstrate their understanding of the role as applied to a scenario provided by the teacher. For example, |
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a discussion of sustainability where students are given the role of conservationists, scientists, politicians, NGOs, stakeholders ( |
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see Oliver 2016). |
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Alternatively, roles could |
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be distinguished using a theoretical model or level of analysis, e.g. |
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“explain the phenomena |
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of hyperinflation |
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from one of the |
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following perspectives: Post-Keynesian, |
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Monetarist, Macroeconomic, Microeconomic, or Behavioural Economics. |
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” Suggested assessment |
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Students are assessed on t heir knowledge of the role as |
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applied in the given scenario, as well as |
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their presentation, communication skills, and group contribution. Actions Required by Learner |
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Collaborate with other group members |
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to respond |
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to the scenario and present |
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to the class. Engage |
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with and |
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critique other presentations. Respond within the time allowed to follow up questions. Actions Required by Tutor(s) |
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ReferencesOliver, Simon. (2016). Integrating role-play with case study and carbon footprint monitoring: A transformative approach to enhancing learners’ social behavior for a more sustainable environment. 11. 1323-1335. 10.12973/ijese.2016.346a. |
Further
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examples
There are a range of research-backed, practical guides and resources online which can assist you to design and use asynchronous discussion effectively.
- Tim Neumann, a lecturer from the IOE, demonstrates how he runs online activities including critical readings, peer feedback and a debate using the Moodle forum, and also explains how he monitors student engagement using Moodle's Activity Completion tracking in the video: Practical Online Teaching Tips 4: Keep it Manageable (27m 34s).
- Teaching and learning with discussion forums case study report.
- Slobodan Tomic, Ellen Roberts and Jane Lund ( University of York) use asynchronous discussion forums in a wholly online distance programme, see their design tips and insights.
- To hear first-hand benefits and experiences of using asynchronous discussion forums, see UNSW’s Learning to Teach Online
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- [Youtube video 6m41s]
- For practical guidance on encouraging students to interact with online discussions see Gilly Salmon's five stage model .
References:
Oliver, Simon. (2016). Integrating role-play with case study and carbon footprint monitoring: A transformative approach to enhancing learners’ social behavior for a more sustainable environment. 11. 1323-1335. 10.12973/ijese.2016.346a.
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- Using forums effectively - ways to improve engagement by Kitty Horne from the University of Sussex, provides great tips.