Facilitating Effective Discussions
Well-facilitated discussions can support students in developing critical thinking, communication, group, and teamwork skills, and can lead to deeper learning and changes to attitudes, behaviours, and values. The following resources can support you in designing engaging discussion questions, and facilitating effective discussions:
- Practical Discussion Techniques for Instructors (Rasmussen, 1984)
- Facilitation Skills (Kustra & Potter, 2008)
- Tips for Effective Online Discussions
- Creating Good Questions for Online Discussions (Toledo, 2006)
- What Questions Engage Participants (Kustra & Potter, 2008; Rasmussen, 1984)
Online Tools for Discussion and Interactivity
There are many UWindsor-supported tools built right into Blackboard that you can use to engage students. Resources include:
- Creating and Managing Online Discussions
- Creating a Forum for Discussions
- Using Breakout Rooms in Blackboard Collaborate
- Creating and Managing Groups
- Wikis
- Blogs
- Journals
- iClickers
There are also a number of third-party tools available online. Many of these require a membership fee to access the full version of the tool, but some do offer a "free" membership for limited but useful tools. These include:
HyFlex Course Design
HyFlex combines face-to-face with online learning. The following resources offer strategies and lesson planning ideas for actively engaging both online and in-class students at the same time.
- 7 Things you should know about the HyFlex Course Model (Educause, 2020)
- Comparison of HyFlex with other modes of teaching – written and visual overview (UWindsor, 2021)
- HyFlex Course Design Examples (CC-BY Kevin Kelly, San Francisco State University)
- Hybrid-Flexible (Hyflex) Course Design: Implementing student-directed hybrid classes , Edited by Brian J. Beatty
- Hyflex - Pros and cons and approaches , Ryan McCabe, State University of New York
Experiential Learning
Experiential learning provides students with the opportunity to apply course concepts in a practical setting and develop both communication and professional skills. Many types of experiential learning opportunities can work well in an online environment. The Office of Experiential Learning has developed a webpage offering examples, advice, and a range of resources .