Reimagining Asynchronous Discussions: Thinking Outside the PPR (Prompt, Post, Reply) Box
Miriam Moore 

What’s happening in the online discussions in your classes? Are students checking off participation boxes, showing off, proving that they read the text, or cheerleading perfunctory comments from classmates? Or are they having intellectual fun: grappling with, challenging, extending, refining, or applying course concepts? In this workshop, we will probe the possibilities (and some limitations) for enhancing learning through asynchronous discussions, focusing on design choices that encourage exploration, reflection, and growth in disciplinary literacy. After a brief overview of relevant research and a theoretical framework from applied linguistics, we will focus the remainder of the session on developing or revising prompts, instructions, and grading criteria for asynchronous discussion forums.