Girl working on the computer in online seminary.

Using Discussion Boards Effectively - Opportunities and Challenges

Think back to your class’s most recent discussion board activity. How did it go? What were learner posts like? Was there active discussion? Were the posts respectful? Were they on topic? More than any other online class activity, discussion boards provide the chance for your class to interact with each other and ask questions. Facilitating discussion boards effectively improves the learner’s experience. Consider the following opportunities and challenges with Canvas discussion boards:

Opportunities

• Learners can interact with each other in the online class.

• Sharing thoughts and feelings on gospel topics and questions builds greater class unity.

• An online teacher can gain more insight into an individual learner’s thoughts and feelings.

• Items discussed can help a teacher prepare better for the remote gathering discussion.

Challenges

• It can be difficult to get the class to take part meaningfully in the discussion board. Their posts and replies can sometimes be superficial.

• Sometimes, intent and tone are misinterpreted in written text.

• Unless variety is modeled by teachers, the class’s discussion replies can feel like they are the same each week.

• Discussion board participation can be less than what the directions state.

• Teachers may struggle to know how much to respond to learners in a discussion board.

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Discuss with Your Supervisor

Ponder the following questions and how they might apply to your teaching. Prepare to discuss them with your local Seminaries and Institutes of Religion (S&I) supervisor.

• Discuss a recent discussion board interaction that was positive for your class. What about that interaction made it positive?

• Ask your supervisor what they have seen contribute to the negative perception of discussion boards. Ask for tips on how to change that perception to be positive.