Lead Facilitator: Alaba Agbatogun (Ph.D)

Co-facilitators: Timothy Browne, Andrea Gorra (Ph.D), Chloe Jones, Tracy Hodgson-Drysdale

Several higher institutions across the globe including Carleton University are implementing a combination of online, hybrid, and in-person instructional offerings. The use of discussion forums is a powerful tool for promoting active learning, negotiation of meaning, and a productive learning community. it’s thus imperative for faculty and instructors to urgently consider, learn, and understand how students should engage in group discussions effectively. To some instructors and faculty, striking up a successful online discussion can feel like something of alchemy, but this session would provide some meaningful planning and facilitation strategies to help you implement student-oriented online discussions into your course.

At the end of this session, participants would be able to:

Discuss pedagogical benefits of discussion forums
Analyze strategies for facilitating and sustaining participation in online discussions
Identify the best practices for creating group discussion questions
Recognize active-learning-oriented group discussion strategies
So, if you’re looking for tips on how to improve your next course, this session has some great information and tips that would enable or challenge the social construction of knowledge and promote the learning community in your course.