Office of Academic Programs
Communication
Asynchronous Communication
| Blogging | Aynchronous Discussion |
Blogging
Blackboard Blogs
- Blackboard blogs can be shared with other class members or set as a private journalling tool in which class members cannot view each other's entries. The latter makes it a great tool for small assignments because student submissions are easily accessed and reviewed.
- Blogging in Blackboard courses does not raise student privacy issues (FERPA) that blogging on a public site would.
- There is a class blog that is accessed under Tools and is configured under Configure Blog Tool in the Control Panel. It is also possible to add blogs to any Content Area. (Click the down arrow in the drop down menu in the upper right and select Blog.)
- Overview and tutorial information.
- Blogger is one of the more popular blog tools.
- It is now possible to create team blogs but the people you wish to add must have Gmail accounts. (Limit - 100 members per blog.)
- It is also to import/export blogs.
- Size limits: 1 GB images (shared with Picasa).
- See Promoting Your Blog.
- Blogger Help
- Wordpress is another popular blog tool.
- It is possible to have multiple contributors. They must have wordpress accounts.
- Size limits: 3 GB of space.
- Stats on "how many people are visiting your blog, where they’re coming from, which posts are most popular, and which search engine terms are sending people to your blog."
- Drafts of posts are continually being saved which diminishes the possibility of data loss.
*Note: There may be FERPA issues involved in assigning students to post in a public blog.
Asynchronous Discussion
Tips
- Effective discussion topics have multiple dimensions, more than one legitimate perspective, and require significant critical thinking. They have no one clear answer.
- Allow several days for discussion to develop. Asynchronous discussion takes longer due to lag time in reading and responses.
- Structure discussion to ensure interaction. Since in-class discussion is usually between student and instructor, peer-to-peer asynchronous discussion may not come naturally.
- Make clear that participants are expected to post and to read and respond to posts of others. Consider establishing two deadlines: one for an initial post and one for responses.
- Establish guidelines for effective and respectful discussion online. Asynchronous discussion for a class is different than texting or communicating on Facebook. See Asynchronous Discussion Guidelines. (You may have other guidelines that are important to you.)
- In large classes, consider putting students into discussion groups. Discussion groups can have larger numbers of participants than the three-five person limit needed for a significant group project.
- Structure group activities. Many students either have had negative group experiences or do not know how to work effectively in groups.
- Assign roles (moderator, note-taker, summarizer, reporter, devil's advocate, and so on) to students. Rotate the roles.
- See Working with Student Groups.
- To encourage participation in asynchronous discussion
- Use some material from discussion boards on a quiz or exam.
- Provide credit for adequate postings and responses. (Define 'adequate.')
- Assign points do discussion activities commensurate with the importance you place on discussion in your course.
Grading Asynchronous Discussion
Reading discussion posts is an excellent way to get feedback on what students do and do not understand. Subsequently providing feedback back to students in order to clarify misunderstandings or elaborate on some aspects of the learning completes a feedback cycle. This can be a very time-consuming activity for instructors (as well as for students).
Tips
- Identify for yourself what you want students to explore and learn through this discussion.
- Define the topic domain clearly. Describe what is not part of the discussion.
- Provide credit or no credit for acceptable participation in a weekly discussion.
- Define - ahead of time -what is an acceptable post. This can streamline grading.
- Consider creating a simple but well-delineated rubric.
- Alternatively, assign a student moderator or two for the class discussion, or one for each group (in a larger class) each week. Have that moderator define and/or pose a question, moderate the discussion, and summarize it when it is over. See Online Moderator Guidelines.
- Assign a significant amount of credit for this activity.
- Assign credit or no-credit for activity of other discussants to encourage active discussion.
- Use material from the summaries on quizzes or exams or other learning activities.
Blackboard Discussions
Blackboard has a robust discussion board. It can also be somewhat complex to work with. You may wish to use some of its more complex features, but it will be easier for all if you keep things simple for students.
Handouts
- Discussion Settings (includes how to set up a discussion forum)
- Discussion Board Interface (includes how to navigate)
Blackboard Groups
It is possible to create private groups in Blackboard and enable discussion forums for them.
Note: If privacy is not necessary and you want to encourage students to read each other's posts, consider creating the groups right in the main discussion board. If you are going to have a significant number of discussions, consider creating links to the discussion groups for a particular topic from that content area so that students (and you) can easily access the desired discussion board.
Note: When you create a group, it automatically creates one discussion forum within the group space titled the same name as the group. If you need more discussion boards, you will have to create them as students do not have this capability.
Handouts