Pandemic Tip #4: You don't have to respond to every discussion post

Photo by fauxels at Pexels
And no, these people are not following CDC
social distancing procedures of sitting 6 feet apart.

Feeling overwhelmed at the prospect of responding to so many discussion posts?

You don't have to answer every one. In fact, it's probably better for your health and their learning if you don't. Discussions should not be a performance. They should simulate the large and small group discussions you would have in a classroom.

Read as many posts as you can. Watch out and correct disruptive behavior (e.g. bullying, red flags). Answer questions. Correct errors when needed. Point them to relevant resources, including back to the textbook. But otherwise let them talk amongst themselves.

Prove your presence and add your value by summarizing the conversation at the end of the week. Think of it like qualitative data analysis:

• What were the big themes that emerged from the posts? 
• What were the outliers? 
• What new things emerged that you didn't expect? 
• What did not get the attention from students that it deserved? 

Finally: What are the main takeaways and how can they use that moving forward?

Within the summary, link to student posts as you write to quote/paraphrase ideas, highlight examples, and show how multiple student posts connected to each other. To do this, I have two windows open as I read. One is the discussion forum. The other is an HTML file in D2L Content. (It's all WYSIWYG so no coding necessary.) While I read, I jot notes in the Content file. For attribution, I type the student's name, select it, and copy/paste the URL of their post as the hyperlink. 

Full disclosure: I do read every response to the prompt. But I would be lying if I didn't admit that sometimes I'm only skimming the comments students make to each others' posts to look for red flags.

Similarly, some students will only will skim the summary to find their name, but many (more than you think) will read the whole thing.

While we're on the subject, I realize that the use of discussion forums can be controversial. Some people find them to be a waste of time. Others love them. I teach communication courses, and it is important to observe how well students are able to communicate with others. So discussion threads are a staple of my online courses. 

Remember that we're not trying to create perfect courses this week. If your F2F course involves group discussions, your online course can continue that in an altered way. If your F2F course does not involve group discussions, look for other ways to permit students to prove their developing competency with the material.