Directions: In this final activity, you will help create a "Best Practice for Discussion" document that could be shared with other faculty. Please put your best practice ideas under the appropriate headers. If you want to tweak an item that is already added, that is appropriate for a collaborative wiki. Note, a wiki can be a great alternative to a traditional discussion depending on your instructional goal. Please contribute at least one item to each of the headers provided below. To begin, click edit in the top right corner. Make sure to save your changes.

Discussion Best Practices

Connecting Discussion to Learning Outcomes

Tips:

I use a planning board (thanks to Jenny ) when I map out my courses for the semester. Basically a table to organize my course --it insures that my learning objectives flow from the state/national competencies for my program area. I determine how I will assess the objective first---everything else flows from that.

Class Topic/Focus	State & ILA Competencies	Course Learning Objectives	Assessment / Graded Assignments & Discussion	Readings	Activities & Instructional Resources
Week 1
Week 2
etc.

I share in the syllabus the learning objective that corresponds with the discussion prompt.
I create a Module Conclusion Page (recommended by Ashley Caudill) where the I add a brief video summarizing the key ideas from the Discussion Board, clearing up any misconceptions, and previewing the next Module. I also list the Module Objectives (which are also on the Module Overview Page) and encourage students to (internally) reflect on their progress towards the objectives.

Writing Discussion Prompts

Tips:

I keep Bloom's taxonomy in mind as I write prompts. There is a great table on this site that has tips and terms to keep handy https://tips.uark.edu/using-blooms-taxonomy/
I try to keep in my students' contexts when writing prompts so that they are relevant to their positionality.
I ask questions that generally require students to apply knowledge in some way -- either to think about their own experience or what it would look like in a professional setting.
I always use open-ended questions.

Providing Feedback

Tips:

I usually try to have two discussion topics per week: a whole class and a small group topic. I split the points in half (e.g., 3 points /week = 1.5 points per topic). I use speed grader for each topic and let the students know that one topic will have points assigned only and my comments will be located in the other topic. This makes the grading go faster.
I interact on the discussions boards and try to model the expectations.
I have a week early in the course where students self evaluate their posts, and then I respond to their self-evaluations. It gives me a chance to interact with them and to agree or add to their critiques (without having to email them and tell them to do something different in a way that might be received negatively).
In addition to actively engaging in the discussion board, I also "nudge" students towards one another's posts (based on the topic of interest).
The "Media File" video feedback is a quick and easy way to personalize feedback.

Administering Discussion

Tips:

Having an open discussion topic called "Questions" available each week allows students to post questions that everyone can see. although I end up answering most of them, I do encourage anyone who has the answer to respond. What I find is that if I have designed the course in a clear manner, I get fewer questions. When I get barraged by questions, it's usually an indicator to me that something is unclear/needs redesign in the course material.
I provide examples of "quality" and "low quality" discussion posts after the first week (when I have students who are unfamiliar with the online format). Since our M.Ed. is mostly online, this is not needed in our later courses in the sequence.
The reality for working adults taking graduate courses is that the ongoing requirement of weekly discussion /conversation can be challenging to juggle along with work and family commitments. To acknowledge that sometimes folks get sick, have a crazy, hectic week, or have a life event (birth, death, etc) that keeps them from participating in the conversation, I either drop the lowest participation grade /semester OR this semester, I'm experimenting with issuing 2 tokens which can be used to be excused from discussion or to extend the due date by 1 week on one assignment. Once the tokens are spent - they are gone. Students don't have to tell me their sob story--they can just use the token. As an incentive, students who do not use them and have an A average will earn an A+ at the end of the semester. The tokens mean I don't have to play "judge" and determine who has a legit excuse and who doesn't.
I make sure all due dates are synced with the calendar in Canvas.
I keep due dates very consistent. I'm always present.
I create a "Table of Assignments" on the last page of the syllabus as a one page overview of assignments and due dates.

Discussion Prompts 2.0 - Bringing Creativity into Discussion

Tips:

After a few weeks of discussions, I ask the students to sign up and lead a week's discussion in pairs or teams. These lead discussants must read the week's reading in advance, meet once virtually, and set up questions for the class to respond to. At the end of their assigned week, the leaders must wrap-up the discussion for the class.
Incorporating the use of multimedia can be very helpful.
Every now and then, I have an optional live meet-up to excuse them from some posts.
I have used a video and asked students to stop at certain points and ask them a specific question to respond to in discussion.
Links to relevant news articles or NPR audio files can make the discussion more lively and engaging.