How do I facilitate discussions and engagement?

Canvas Discussion Boards & Zoom

  • Details: You can hold discussions and Q&A sessions in Zoom. You can also set up a discussion board in Canvas.
  • Best Practice: If using discussion boards in Canvas, keep it to a small number of focused boards and plan to visit the board frequently to respond to students and to facilitate the discussions.

Canvas Discussion Board Basics

What are Discussion Boards and when should I use them?

Discussion Boards are a form of asynchronous, interactive communication between two or more people. They have the advantage of being available to all students at any time and permit students to pause and reflect before posting. Use a Discussion Board when you would like to encourage thoughtful, robust conversation. Students can participate in a conversation with the entire class or small group. Discussion Boards can be graded or simply serve as a forum for group conversation.  

Some examples of how Discussion Boards can be used include:

  • post and answer questions
  • share and iterate upon ideas shared in the course
  • debate the pros and cons of an issue
  • facilitate group discussions around a topic

How to post a new discussion:

  1. Click Discussions from the course navigation of the left
  2. Click the blue +Discussion button on the upper right
  3. Give your discussion topic a title in the Topic Title Bar
  4. Enter your post in the Rich Content Editor
  5. Under Options, you can select
    • Allow threaded replies if you want the students to be able to reply to other student’s comments
    • Users must post before seeing replies if you want to ensure that students post their own original thoughts without being influenced by other responses
    • Add to student to-do if you want to remind students to reply to the discussion

How to reply to a post:

  1. Click Discussions from the course navigation of the left
  2. Click the discussion topic title you want to reply to
  3. Once you are in the discussion, find the post you want to reply to and click the Reply button right under the post
  4. Enter your reply in the Rich Content Editor
  5. Click the Post Reply button

Learn to do more with Discussion Boards

All Discussion Board Topics in Canvas Links to an external site.

Discussion Board Video Links to an external site.

Zoom Basics

What is Zoom and when should I use it?

Zoom is a software-based video conferencing tool that allows you to make a personal connection to your students. It is accessible across mobile devices, desktops, and the telephone. Zoom can be used as a virtual meeting space for both synchronous and asynchronous lecture sessions and does not require your students to be physically present in a classroom. Use Zoom in place of classroom lectures and face-to-face meetings. Zoom also offers the advantage of being able to be recorded so that students who miss the lecture can view it later. You can schedule Zoom meetings for the entire class and Zoom Breakout Rooms to facilitate small group conversations.

Some examples of how Zoom can be used include:

  • Lectures
  • Meetings
  • Office hours
  • Other real-time interactions

How to start a new Zoom meeting:

  1. Sign in to Zoom
  2. Click Schedule A Meeting
  3. Enter the date and time information for the meeting
  4. Click Save
  5. Option 1
    1. Click Copy the invitation
    2. Click Copy Meeting Invitation
    3. Paste invitation information into an email and send to students
  6. Option 2
    1. Click the option to add to your Outlook Calendar
    2. Click the Meeting .ics download
    3. This should open your Outlook Calendar with a prepopulated meeting invitation. Send this to your students.

Learn to do more with Zoom

All Zoom Tutorials Links to an external site.

Zoom Video Links to an external site.