One of the strategies that I have been using to try and get more student participation in discussions is asking students direct questions about their assignments. If a student makes a statement in the discussion post I will try to comment on the statement either agreeing or disagreeing and trying to ask more in-depth questions.
However, I have struggled to get many of the students to participate and replying to my comments. I wonder if there is something that I can do to make the content that I post on their content more appealing. Something that I plan to try is adding images and bitmojis to my posts.
I think that you will know when you have a community of Learners when students will comment on each other’s material without prompting. I think it is when students are taking their time and initiative to look at other students work and to comment on it and to think about it then you have a community of learners.
Katie, I agree with your statement “I think that you will know when you have a community of Learners when students will comment on each other’s material without prompting” wholeheartedly! It’s really difficult to get students to go back to discussion boards to see what others have written or replied to their original posts. Any ideas for strategies that will encourage them to look back on previous discussion boards?
I have found that sometimes it depends on the discussion question. The more that a student can relate to the question, the more they want to share. Asking questions is a great strategy! When I started asking students questions that prompted deeper thinking or posed a different viewpoint, I noticed a significant increase in discussion board posts. Keep trying new things, you will find your perfect combination of teacher tricks to get the students talking!