SOLE Discussions

Discussion allows asynchronous communication between students and instructors who want to discuss and share their teaching and learning in a virtual learning community.

To access the Discussion tool begin by clicking Communication from the Left Navigation then clicking Discussion.

In Discussion, you can:

• Post a New Discussion

• Read/Reply to a Discussion and Comment on others’ Replies

• Edit/Delete a Reply/Comment

• Use Discussions to Share files

• Search, bookmark, subscribe, and upvote/downvote replies and comments

Instructional Uses of Discussion

Discussion has many instructional uses. Examples of Integrating the Discussion into a Course/Site:

1. Virtual learning community - Build up a learning community so students and instructors can discuss their concerns over the Internet. Students are able to view other students' questions, and instructors can respond to students as a whole.

2. Collaborative learning - Assign students to different projects and require them to collaborate on the project by using the discussion.

3. Research and sharing - Request that students work on conducting research projects and post their findings (e.g. reports).

4. Debating - Post a topic or a question on the discussion and request that students get involved in the discussion, and express their opinions.

5. Case study - Illustrate a case in detail and ask students to participate in the case study.

6. Expedition - Post the URL of a web site and encourage students to explore/study a place, and then share their learning experiences.

Tips for a Successful Discussion

• Don't just activate the discussion for a course without any purpose in mind. Always integrate the discussion into assignments or activity requirements.

• Give feedback in a timely manner. Giving effective feedback will motivate students to check messages and encourage them to share with others by posting messages.

• Allow students to access all messages in all topics. Encourage students to respond to each other.

• Organize the discussion frequently in order to keep a good structure.