My course will employ a blended learning model. Students will be expected to attend synchronous face-to-face classes but use online learning materials to facilitate and promote learning. During face-to-face sessions, students will primarily engage in lectures designed to deepen their understanding of key course themes, such as how fairy tales influence our worldview as children, whether they are truly “safe” for young audiences, and how satire functions within literature. In the online component, students will apply their knowledge through various learning tasks designed to reinforce and expand their understanding of the course material.

One of the ways I intend to facilitate student/student-instructor interactions is through discussion forums. In Teaching for the Digital Age, these forums are highlighted as valuable tools for student learning because:

“when applied appropriately, online collaborative learning can lead to deep, academic learning, or transformative learning, as well as, if not better than, discussion in campus-based classrooms. The asynchronous and recorded ‘affordances’ of online learning more than compensate for the lack of physical cues and other aspects of face-to-face discussion.”

However, instructors must recognize that a successful discussion forum involves several key factors and is more than just allowing open conversation. The instructor’s role is just as crucial as that of the student. According to Teaching for the Digital Age, these factors include:

• appropriate technology
• clear guidelines on student online behaviour
• student orientation and preparation
• clear goals
• setting an appropriate ‘tone’ or requirements for discussion
• defining clearly learner roles and expectations
• monitoring the participation of individual learners, and responding accordingly
• regular, ongoing instructor ‘presence’
• ensuring strong articulation between discussion topics and assessment

My course materials, including discussion forums, will be accessible online through Canvas, which provides a platform for engaging discussions.

The first modules of my course will focus on developing critical thinking skills and exploring literary elements like satire to enhance comprehension. This will be achieved through the analysis of fairy tales. The goal is to help students answer the following question: are fairy tales truly “safe” for children? The discussion forum will play a key role in this process. In the post-COVID years, I have found that students have become increasingly less comfortable speaking to the class to express their opinions. The goal is for the online discussions to help students build comfort with one another, gradually fostering a more confident classroom environment. This will set the stage for a face-to-face debate and panel presentation towards the end of the term. In the short term, however, I hope that these forums will encourage students to think critically about the questions they encounter and the world around them while also developing the skills to disagree respectfully, offer constructive feedback, and challenge their own perspectives.

With that being said, there are several guidelines/assessment practices that I intend to implement to make discussion forum interactions more meaningful. These include:

• Establishing a welcoming classroom community at the start of the term to ensure all students feel comfortable participating in online discussion forums.
• Recognizing cultural backgrounds and making accommodations or adaptations as needed.
• Before participation begins, provide a lesson on digital citizenship and appropriate interaction in discussion forums.
• Setting clear, easy-to-follow guidelines and expectations for students during discussion forums.
• Incorporating follow-up activities that allow students to demonstrate their learning and formulate a final reflection.

I believe discussion forums will foster engaging discourse in my classroom, and I’m excited to see how they contribute to shaping the learning environment in my space.

What forms of student/student-instructor interactions do you plan to implement in your course prototype (e.g. LMS forums, Flipgrid, blog comments/pingbacks, hashtags, video chats, etc.)? What justification can you provide for choosing these forms of student interaction? What guidelines or assessment practices will you adopt to ensure that interactions are meaningful, supportive, engaging, and relevant?