Alternate Discussion tools

[Amanda_L_Albrig]

Hi Everyone,

Can anyone recommend other Discussion tools that connect with Canvas? The Canvas Discussion Boards fall a bit short. We already use Piazza for some discussions, mostly questions about course content, but it is not appropriate for all discussion types.

Thank you for your time.

Amanda

[Chris_Hofer]

Hi  @Amanda_L_Albrig ...

I have not used any of these myself, but here are some integrations that you might want to look at (some of which may come with a cost):

• Flipgrid - Edu App Center: Flipgrid 
• Notebowl - Edu App Center: Notebowl 
• Yellowdig - Edu App Center: Yellowdig 

[laurakgibbs]

And I set up a Flipgrid Playground for anyone who wants to just see what it's like:

https://community.canvaslms.com/people/laurakgibbs/blog/2018/01/14/a-flipgrid-playground-for-the-can... 

It's something new I'm trying this semester.

I do not use Canvas discussions exactly because they seem to me very clunky and impersonal. I rely on a student blog network instead. But I am excited to try adding some video component, and Flipgrid sure makes it easy. 

[dhulsey]

 @Amanda_L_Albrig ‌, when discussing a text or reading or image, I like Perusall. it is a social annotation tool that integrates into canvas via LTI: https://community.canvaslms.com/groups/designers/blog/2016/09/23/canvas-and-perusall?sr=search&searc...‌. Have a nice day!

[brad_hinson]

I have found both hypothes.is and Slack to be solid class discussion tools.  Hypothes.is does have a Canvas LTI that is in beta, and it works well - but you don't have to have the LTI to use hypothes.is, as it runs anywhere on the web.   I have students annotate the syllabus, videos, and articles routinely - having the discussion in the margins of the documents is remarkably effective. Slack does not integrate with Canvas, but it's easy and convenient.  Dialog in Slack is more conversational and fluid - I find students are more engaged and forthcoming.   Plus it works well on my phone.  

[dhulsey]

A Slack integration with Canvas would be pretty spiffy though.

[jdick1]

Specifically what are you finding clunky about the Canvas discussion boards? (I'm not disagreeing with you at all, just trying to find out what kinds of functionality or experience you're trying to support as that would inform tool recommendations.)

As a left-field option, we've been using Padlet in a few of our courses. The recent update greatly expands what you can do with the cards—recording video, audio, and images directly within the app, for example. It embeds very easily in Canvas pages, and has some pretty nifty moderation and discussion feedback tools, imo.

ETA: We've also had positive responses from teachers and students re: Slack. One thing to consider re: Slack though is to have instructors think about setting student expectations re: instructor availability for IM.

[Tomasiado1]

I think the canvas discussion boards are pretty lame as well.  no tagging. No instant video.   Flipgrid, and padlet and other boards seem more interactive and use other media. 

[ErikaKonrad]

In BbLearn, I could see each student's posts without having to search for a student or scroll through the whole discussion board as I believe I have to do in Canvas.

In BbLearn, I could respond to everyone, not just to the writer of an original thread:  if  B started a thread and A replied to B, I could reply to A in BbLearn.  I can't figure out a way to do that in Canvas.  I can't participate in the student discussion as much as I could in BbLearn.

The Canvas discussion interface is linear:  I have to look at either all the posts or none of the posts.  Or I have to enter in a student's name to find that one student's posts.  And those posts are not in context:  I can't see all student posts and how they relate to other posts as I could in BbLearn.  

In BbLearn, I could see who posted and who replied to whom much more quickly and easily.  And I could add my two cents to a conversation.  I can't do that in Canvas, can I?  I'd love to know if I can.

In BbLearn, I had students post their work to the discussion board so everyone could see each other's work.  In Canvas, this is super unwieldy because of its linearity. I wonder if creating small group discussions might help in this regard.

Thanks, everyone for your ideas. They are really helpful.

Has anyone tried using MS Teams to hold discussions that focus on student writing?

[ZakiaHmamou]

Try Flip, it is great for discussion, written and video. free

https://info.flip.com/en-us.html

[Chris_Hofer]

Hi everyone...

I am not sure if this link will help or not, but a couple days ago a new blog post was published to the Community that might be of interest as it relates to Discussions redesign.

Enhancing Collaboration: Re-introducing the New Ca... - Instructure Community (canvaslms.com)

Hope it might help in some way.