"Twitter-Style" Chat in Canvas and How to Make Modules More 😊

In our last edition, we saw how Discussions can be used to help students develop as Knowledge Constructors. This week highlights how one teacher is helping her students develop as Creative Communicators and Digital Citizens through Canvas Discussions.

Canvas Twitter-Style Chat

1. Melissa Osmun, reading teacher at Central Middle School, and her students have been participating in a "Twitter-Style" Chat using Canvas Discussions. (If you are unfamiliar with Twitter Chats, check out this comprehensive guide to Twitter created by a personal Twitter Favorite of mine- @cybraryman1)

Click on Image to see Larger- See Tweet here

2. Melissa's method: Melissa creates a Discussion for her class and then creates three replies to the Discussion. Each reply is a question. Students are then instructed to reply to two questions, giving students choice.

3. Benefits for the Students: While there are many benefits, adding online discussions to your tool kit provides an opportunity for  students to have time to process their ideas, makes their thinking visible to other students, and requires all students to be involved in the discussion. The online discussion feature is always a great way to give a voice to a student who may be more reserved in the whole class setting.

4. Benefits for the Teacher: Melissa can make sure that all students are involved in the Discussion and can provide specific feedback within the Discussion or through Speedgrader. Students responses are grouped together in Speedgrader which makes reviewing a snap for teachers.

And Now...just because it is fun and because I got the idea from Twitter,

5. Add Emoticons to your Module Titles to provide an element for visual discrimination and  🎉 fun 🎉. You can copy emojis from a ton of places including emojipedia.org and then place the graphic into your Module title. Destiny Beck, high school English teacher, added graphics to modules in her 9th grade English class.

Click On Image to See Larger