This Week’s Topic in Focus: Schoology Discussion Feature
Each month our Digital Learning Team will take a look at a Schoology feature that will hopefully empower you to dive deeper into the use of this powerful tool.
Classroom discussions have always allowed students to share their learning, gain a deeper understanding and have a voice in the classroom. Through classroom discussions, we often take a quick formative assessment of student understanding and then adjust our teaching accordingly. We also want our students to take in new ideas and add them to their current framework and understanding. But what about those quiet kids or the kids who need a moment to think and by the time they have gathered their thoughts, the class has moved on? Or, in this digital age, what about those kids that like to punctuate their ideas with video, audio, memes, or the writings of someone else? This is where the Schoology feature of “Discussion” can allow for content rich, interactive learning opportunities in your classroom.
Creating a Discussion Thread:
Discussions can be created in any course. Simply add a “Discussion” from the “Add Materials” drop down, create your discussion prompts and set your preferences for how students can see and respond to the discussion thread (more on that later). Students can then respond with text or internet links. Or, they can use the rich text editor to add videos, file, and images. For detailed instructions on how to create a discussion thread, click here.
Innovative Uses of Discussion Threads:
This discussion feature can be used in the exact same way an in-class discussion would be used. However, there are more innovative ways that this feature can be utilized. Here are just a smattering of suggestions - for a video description of these, click here:
- Artifacts of Learning and Peer Evaluation - Students share their work as a discussion thread and peers respond with feedback through the discussion feature
- Collaborative Space - Create a discussion where students can share thoughts and ideas
- Assessment Preparation - Create a “Study Hall” post with your study guide attached. Students can then ask and answer questions in relation to the content. Allows for peer-to-peer study moments with student ownership of content
- Unit Discussions - Create a discussion inside a unit folder that runs through the entire timeframe of the course. Students can then use it as a Q/A spot or sounding board
- Group Research - Use the “assign individually or to group” feature and create a collaborative space for students to work on group projects
- Crowdsource Research - Students respond to a discussion prompt by providing links or media that argue or illuminate their understandings and beliefs
- Scavenger Hunt - Using a program like Google Maps, students share images and screenshots and other have to post a response that identifies the what or where
- Math or Science Problem Solving - Pose a problem and then have students work through it and share their solutions - hide or lock responses so that students have to do their own work or are forced to revisit their work
- Predictions - Post a picture or a video and students predict what will happen next
- Goal Setting - Have students set goals, lock the discussion thread and then unlock and revisit it at a predetermined date in the future to evaluate growth.
Special Features of the Discussion Feature:
- Rich text editor - you can create your discussion and include images, videos or external links by using the rich text editor. Students can include links, images, and embedded material in their responses
- Post Before View Requirement - When creating a discussion, you can initiate the setting that requires the students to post a response before they are able to see responses from the rest of their classmates
- Lock - Discussions can be locked at any time. Students will not be able to post, but will still be able to view the discussion once it has been locked. Lock times can be set for a future date and time
- Individually or Grading Group Assigned - Discussions can be assigned to individual students. If you use grading groups, the discussion can be assigned to specific grading groups
- Shared Discussions - If you are working from courses that are not linked, you have the option of sharing a discussion across multiple courses
- Align Learning Objectives - as with the assignment and assessment features in Schoology, you can align specific learning objectives to a discussion. These learning objectives can then be tied to mastery objectives
- Moderate Posts - As the course admin, you have the option to create moderation guidelines so that all posts have to be approved by you before they appear to the students
There are so many ways that you can use this Schoology feature to inspire your students and create a community of collaboration. FHSD Educators, if you would like some guidance and assistance with using the Discussion feature in Schoology, contact your building’s Digital Learning Specialist.
All educators: Feel free to use the comment feature to share how you are currently using the Discussion feature or ways that you envision using the tool in the future.
Contributed by Melanie Zolnier @libary_techer
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