Interaction has always remained a key determinant of successful learning, as knowledge is constantly constructed and shaped while learners engage in different forms of interactions, namely student – student; student – teacher; and student – content.
Read more about the role of interaction↗
Given the lack of physical contact in online settings, it is often much harder to stimulate interactions. However, there are several ways in which instructors can leverage technology to increase interactivity. And online discussion is one of these effective methods.
Select your LMS:
Set up instructions and peer feedback criteria
Instructors create instructions which detail the submission requirements along with expected behaviour from students, and set up rubrics for peer review.
Upload deliverables and give feedback
Students submit their work, then provide comments on the submission of a peer assigned to them.
Participate in open discussion
Students participate in open discussions, where they can choose in which discussion(s) they would like to participate under teachers’ guidance.
Provide detailed analytics on student participation and progress in the assignments, from which teachers can identify who has completed the required steps and which students might need help.
Allow teachers and students to identify which comments or points to focus on with multiple ways of filtering and sorting the discussion input: the most (least) comments, the most upvotes, and more.
Let students select certain peers’ contributions that they found most valuable to increase autonomy and avoid free-riding.
Set up a reflection step at the end of the activity, in which students write a reflection on what they learned from the discussion assignment.
Provide detailed analytics on student participation and progress in the assignments, from which teachers can identify who has completed the required steps and which students might need help.
Allow teachers and students to identify which comments or points to focus on with multiple ways of filtering and sorting the discussion input: the most (least) comments, the most upvotes, and more.
Let students select certain peers’ contributions that they found most valuable to increase autonomy and avoid free-riding.
Set up a reflection step at the end of the activity, in which students write a reflection on what they learned from the discussion assignment.
Peer Review
Enable students to assess each other's assignments with Peer Review.
Discussion on Topic
Foster meaningul class discussions without deliverables with Discussion on Topic
Streamlined learning activity setup
All you need to do is to describe the assignment, choose the right settings and enjoy.
Easy-to-use, uniform design
All tools have a similar look and feel – which flattens the learning curve for both teachers and students.
Co-created with educators
Tools are co-created with educators from partner universities, thus support even the most advanced use cases.