Forums allow students and staff to have a group conversation, with each participant posting their contributions at times convenient for them. Most posts are text-based, but often support images, links and even audio\/video. The key aspect of \u2018asynchronous\u2019 communication is that students do not all need to be online at the same time. This enables students to communicate from different time zones, working around their other commitments and potentially drafting offline.<\/p>\n
Educational benefits of group discussion:<\/p>\n
Motivation: <\/strong>many people find it more motivating to work with others. For online-only study, where students may feel isolated, it provides a vital connection to peers and academic staff.<\/p>\n Conceptual learning <\/strong>(Asterhan & Schwartz 2016):<\/p>\n Practice opportunities for communication and argumentation <\/strong>are valuable in their own right, and will make future discussion more effective.<\/p>\n Asynchronous communication offers several particular benefits:<\/p>\n Forums can be used in different ways for different purposes. Start by considering your aim for the discussion \u2013 which of your learning outcomes and assessments will it support?\u00a0 Taking this \u2018backwards design\u2019 approach to planning the discussion will also help you motivate students to participate by explaining how it will help them succeed in your module.<\/p>\n Moodle (KEATS) asks you to decide about some key settings for a Forum <\/strong>when you first set it up. For some detailed considerations on forum type, how to introduce it, how to apply groups and other settings, see the King’s CTEL guidance [PDF]<\/a> linked from the ‘Teaching and Learning With Technology<\/a>‘ page.<\/p>\n These are formulated to encourage students to bring in what they have learned and explore further. In summarising research on discussion forum question prompts, Olesova and colleageues (2016) confirm that higher<\/strong> level<\/strong> prompts (in the language of Bloom’s Taxonomy, these would require analysis, synthesis, and evaluation) are associated with higher level responses. These prompts can be:<\/p>\n For inspiration, here are some question stems mapped to Bloom’s Taxonomy<\/a>.<\/p>\n Role allocation<\/strong> is a strategy which promises cognitive and affective benefits. As well as keeping the discussion flowing, giving each student their own dedicated role gives them an opportunity to concentrate on a single aspect of academic practice while vicariously learning from others. Each student has a sphere of control in which they can make an original contribution, which in turn addresses the barriers which time-poor students can experience. Different roles are associated with different kinds and levels of learning so it is a good idea to rotate them<\/strong>. Olesova et al (2016) describe some possibilities:<\/p>\n The framework for the short list of examples below Fink’s taxonomy of significant learning (2003) which you can see as a graphic<\/a> or introduced in this video<\/a>. This the framework the Learning and Teaching Programme at King’s is based on, and it balances the cognitive and humanistic aspects which are so important to the success of academic forums. In practice though, the following examples are closely inter-related and can work in several dimensions at once.<\/p>\n To motivate<\/strong> contributions<\/span><\/b> <\/b>introduce the forum with <\/strong>a clear purpose<\/strong> that relates to course aims. Students may initially need some coaching & <\/span>encouragement to contr<\/span>ibute.<\/span> B<\/span><\/b>e clear in your own mind,<\/span><\/b> and communicate to students, why your exercise is specifically suitable for a <\/span>forum<\/span><\/i>. This may be because you have allocated students different <\/span>briefs, <\/span>or <\/span>briefs <\/span>with <\/span>different<\/span> possible<\/span> interpretations,<\/span> tapping into students\u2019 curiosity about each other and<\/span> allowing them to broaden <\/span>their perspective <\/span>and also<\/span> to <\/span>learn vicariously from each other.\u00a0 ‘<\/span>The Discussion Book<\/a>‘ (Brookfield and Preskill, 2019) describes 50 discussion activities, and is available in e-book format from King’s Library. Give clear guidance<\/span><\/b>: <\/span><\/b>how much do you expect students to write<\/span> and read<\/span>? By when should they post <\/span>and respond<\/span>?\u00a0<\/span> (e.g. (a) post 200 words on \u2026 by Monday (b) respond to <\/span>at least one other student’s <\/span>post which doesn\u2019t have comments yet, and respond to at least one comment on another post<\/span>, both by Thursday<\/span>)<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span> Students will also benefit from clarity about your expectations for the quality of the posts<\/strong>. The University of Central Florida offers a rationale and links to several descriptors<\/a> for high quality discussion. \u00a0\u00a0<\/span> Set terms for responding to each other<\/strong> \u2013 for example, asking students to comment on one other post<\/span> \u2013 which you may be able to phase out over time as this<\/span> supportive behaviour<\/span> begins to happen spontaneously<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Adjust your task to the time available. <\/span><\/b>It can typically take students 30 minutes to write two<\/span> 200-word posts and an hour to <\/span>read 12<\/span> posts (Wise et al, 2013)<\/span>. This student workload estimator<\/a> from Rice University may also help with planning.<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n On-topic ice-breakers<\/span><\/b> are important <\/span>in new groups <\/span>to establish the r<\/span>ight climate for productive discussion<\/span>, and give students an opportunity to get used to<\/span> the software if new to them. <\/span>(<\/span>Kehrwald,<\/span> 2010<\/span>).<\/span><\/p>\n Facilitate actively, especially at first<\/strong>: students may need <\/span>some <\/span>prompts and demonstrations of how to engage with other people’s ideas in a critically constructive way, as well as feedback on hw well they’re doing (<\/span>particularly at the beginning)<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span> Then <\/span>try gradually<\/span> draw<\/span>ing<\/span> back and allow them<\/span> space to answe<\/span>r<\/span> each others\u2019<\/span> questions without feeling too closely monitored.<\/span> If needed, you might prompt them to provide extra explanation or <\/span>exampl<\/span>es,<\/span> and<\/span> challenge <\/span>each others’<\/span> thinking.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Encourage and even out participation<\/strong>: facilitation is key to students’\u00a0 motivation, especially at first. This starts with the settings you choose for the forum and the guidance you give, to keep the posts manageable to read and keep students curious and valuing the contributions. If this doesn\u2019t work first time, ask for feedback from students and make some adjustments.<\/p>\n Offer or link to technical<\/span><\/b> support<\/strong> since students with slower reading or writing speeds may find a lot of extra text-based communication harder work. <\/span><\/i> King’s offers a range of technologies to support reading and writing<\/a>. When assessing <\/span><\/b>contribution<\/span><\/b>s <\/span><\/b>think carefully before s<\/span>etting forum posts as summative assessment<\/span>, since it may bring out competitive or performative behaviour rather than genuinely constructive responses. However,<\/span> students<\/span> would value your feedback.<\/span> Can you complement the forum with some live teaching?<\/strong> While forums have many advantages, l<\/span>ive communication provides stronger social connection and may better support <\/span>exploration of more tentative <\/span>or sensitive<\/span> ideas and closer group collaboration.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n With thanks to Leonie Sloman (Instructional Design Manager, King’s Online) for many valuable contributions.<\/em><\/p>\n\n
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How to set it up<\/h2>\n
Questions and prompts to initiate discussion<\/h3>\n
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Facilitating the discussion and allocating roles<\/h3>\n
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Examples<\/h2>\n
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Considerations<\/h2>\n
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References<\/h2>\n
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![graphic<\/a> or introduced in this](\"https:\/\/blogs.kcl.ac.uk\/activelearning\/files\/2020\/04\/Fink_taxonomy_significant_learning.png\"){kind=link}