Using the Canvas Discussion Board

Discussion boards are effective because they promote higher-order thinking and interaction between students and the instructor. Discussion boards can be very effective in learning if used in a purposeful manner and implemented in a way where instructors are also involved and engaged in the conversation.

Some example uses of the discussion board:

• Student reflections on a reading or video.
• Create threaded replies so students can reply to each other.
• Use it for peer review, pose questions and have students answer and discuss them.
• See the Best Practices section below.

It is recommended that points be assigned for discussion assignments to promote interaction¹. Research further suggests that discussion boards are effective when they involve tasks or topics that tie to the real-world context². This allows students to be active participants in their knowledge construction.³

Building Discussions

Video for building discussion board

Best Practices

• Use discussions for teacher/students introductions on the first week of class.
• Use non-threaded posts for students to reply only to your post about their thoughts or questions about a reading or topic.
• Discuss projects, readings, assignments.
• Pose questions to students (graded or not).
• Share thoughts about an article or other reading.
• Share resources.
• Collect resources from some sort of research activity.
• Create threaded topic to have students engage in a debate on an issue.
• Problem solve complex problems.
• Discuss case studies in a threaded discussion. 
• Students can post presentations for peer feedback.
• Create a grading rubric for your course discussion board topics so students are aware of the grading criteria.

Additional Resources

• Canvas Guides
  • How do I create a discussion as an instructor? Links to an external site.
  • How do I create a group discussion in a course? Links to an external site. Links to an external site. Links to an external site.
• TLOS: On-Demand Training
  • Canvas: Discussions