DCAD Digital Help Guides

Why use online discussions?

• Improved discussion quality: As facilitators provide clear pointers and rules for etiquette, students are able to consider and formulate clear contributions before posting overcoming the fear some students experience when asked to contribute to a face-to-face conversation.
• Improved preparation: Students are able to spend time engaging with pre-reading material or activities which form the basis of their discussion posts, e.g. reflecting on an article they have read.
• Preparation for working life: Being able to communicate online and via social media is an important skill and online academic discussions provide a platform for students to practice online etiquette in a safe and supportive environment.
• Communication skills: Students are able to practise writing skills and conveying thoughts and ideas on topics.
• Equality: Everyone has an opportunity to post in the forum whereas in scheduled face-to-face discussions time can be a limiting factor for enabling everyone to speak.
• Supervised: The tutor will monitor discussions and can intervene should the discussion go off-topic or students fail to engage.
• Inclusive: Online discussions are available to all students regardless of geographical location and is therefore suitable for online, distant and campus-based students who may use online discussions to reflect on classroom activities.

Tool/Software option

Blackboard has an inbuilt discussion tool which can be used as a formative discussion activity or summative assessment. This has the benefit of being added to the Blackboard Gradebook.

If Microsoft Teams has been integrated into Blackboard, discussions can be conducted through the chat facility within the class team.

Practical tips and considerations

Careful design of online discussions can be highly beneficial to the students, however, ongoing tutor facilitation is also required to ensure that the activity is successful (Rovai, 2007). To ensure successful discussions:

• Consider the number of students who will take part in the discussion. If the cohort is large, consider using groups to ensure there are not too many posts that the discussion becomes too difficult to manage.
• Start with a clear set of guidelines, explain what the discussion is for and a reminder about respect for diverse opinions and ideas.
• Set a framework, particularly if this is a summative assessment such as the number of posts and replies. This can be added to the settings in Blackboard Discussions to reinforce the requirements.
• Lead by example, start the discussion with a clear post. Continue adding posts throughout the discussion period to support and encourage continued participation.
• Monitor contributions for acceptability, content and participation. Blackboard Discussions include number of posts per participant so it is easy to identify students who are not participating.
• If the discussion stalls, pose questions to get the discussion back on track. Consider using more challenging questions if this will progress the discussion further.
• Summarise contributions at mid-points to keep the discussion on track and at the end. This summaries can also help to align the discussion with the learning outcomes.

Tips for accessibility and inclusion

• Ensure instructions and posts are clear and written in plain language.
• Ensure non-textual information in the post has a text alternative to assist students using screen-readers, e.g. alt-text on images and transcript for videos.
• Ensure sufficient contrast, don’t use colour alone to convey information. Blackboard discussion posts have a purple ‘New’ flag so new posts are easily identifiable by word and colour.
• Encourage the use of structure in posts, e.g. using header and paragraph styles.

Faster Capital (2025) provide lots of information on ways of ensuring online discussions are accessible and inclusive.

Further information

References

• Faster Capital. (2025). ‘Community forums: Forum Accessibility: Improving Forum Accessibility for a More Inclusive Community’. Faster Capital. 08/04/2025. Available at: https://fastercapital.com/content/Community-forums–Forum-Accessibility–Improving-Forum-Accessibility-for-a-More-Inclusive-Community.html.
• Lin, X. (2024). ‘Using a Student-Developed Case Study Activity for Online Discussion Guided by a Three-Tier Case Method Model’. Adult Learning [Online], February 2024. 34–47 Available at: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/10451595231151732.
• Rovai, A. P. (2007). Facilitating online discussions effectively. The Internet and Higher Education 10(1). [Online] Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iheduc.2006.10.001.