The following questions are important to consider regardless of why and how you are using discussion as a pedagogical tool, but especially in online environments.

How do I...

create equitable and inclusive learning experiences for my students, particularly in difficult and uncertain times?

• On the first day of class, work with your students to build community norms for engaging in productive discussions. See examples of classroom interaction guidelines from the University of Michigan.
• For a variety of reasons—among others, variable internet access, different time zones, and home-based responsibilities and distractions—your students may have inequitable access to full participation in synchronous, Zoom-based discussions. Consider offering both synchronous and asynchronous ways of interacting with course material.
• Wherever possible, build in multiple and flexible ways for students to engage with course material and demonstrate their learning. This helps all students, but it will be particularly important for students for whom this semester is proving especially difficult (e.g., students who are themselves ill or are caring for ill family members, students who require accessibility accommodations that are difficult to manage in an online environment, students whose homes are unsafe or otherwise not conducive to their learning, etc.).
• Consider using tools that allow anonymous responses such as Anonymous Feedback in UVACanvas to ask students how they are best able to engage with the course material and make class decisions based on this feedback. Check in with students regularly to make sure the course is continuing to support their learning.

acknowledge students' life circumstances and challenges and design for their social, emotional, and intellectual development?

• The shift to online formats requires students to engage differently than they would in face-to-face classrooms. Most tasks take longer, and particularly if you are shifting from in-person oral discussion to writing-based interaction, you will need to assign less material. Writing and reading takes more time and effort than speaking and listening.
• Students are adapting to many changes and stressors right now, and all of these can affect their capacity for academic work. The “same” course work may be much more difficult to complete now.
• Increase student motivation by providing opportunities for students to connect course material to their interests and lives.
• Allow students to propose new, and (if necessary) individualized ways of engaging in the course, in order to tap into their intrinsic motivation and work within any constraints posed by their current living situation. 

encourage students to make connections and organize their knowledge in meaningful ways, recognizing their prior learning and addressing any inaccuracies?

• An in-person seminar is often an environment that encourages students to collaboratively make connections and organize information. In an online seminar, these opportunities will likely need to be more carefully structured. Give multiple opportunities in different modalities for students to do this type of work, along with clear instructions.
• In an in-person seminar, instructors can recognize students’ knowledge and correct any inaccuracies through listening to and participating in discussion. In online environments, these opportunities may need to be more structured. Consider asking students brief, low-stakes questions using a tool like Zoom polls or Poll Everywhere. You could also use a discussion board like Piazza, and hold shorter discussions with smaller groups to do some of this work.

enable students to acquire and practice skills and receive feedback?

• As much as possible, give students low-stakes opportunities to practice the work you want to see from them, along with frequent, formative feedback. This will be especially true for any new work that shifting to online learning requires (e.g., contributing to discussion forums, recording think-alouds, etc.). Especially if it is important that they do these things in a particular way, give clear criteria, feedback, and opportunities to practice.