Peer Interaction Tools

students talking
Students are more likely to succeed in courses where they build relationships with their instructor and classmates. There is a lot of research to support the use of interaction in teaching and learning (see Resources below for more).

 

Best Practices

  • Decide what type of interaction you want students to have and use that to guide your choice of tools
  • Limit your course to one or two tools, so students can focus on the content, not learning how to use each tool
  • Using UAA Core Tools increases the chance that students will use the tool in other courses, so only use external tools if there is a compelling pedagogical reason
  • Introduce each tool with a low-stakes assignment to let students practice using it
  • Plan how to make activities fully accessible as you design them

Peer Interaction Tools

There are a variety of ways to structure student engagement with the content, with you, and with each other. This page covers tools that primarily create opportunities for student-student interaction. Use the  on our Tools Comparison chart to decide which tools best fit your needs. Students can also interact with web conferencing tools.

  • Blackboard Tools

    Blackboard Tools

    You can , most commonly  and . Discussions let users post and reply to messages, creating a common repository. Discussions are organized by forum, with multiple students creating and replying to threads within each forum. They emphasize peer interaction, while blogs emphasize individual authorship, with comments by peers.

  • ePortfolios

    eWolf ePortfolio

    ePortfolios foster complex, multi-stage, and reflective individual and group work. UAA has its own  tool for ePortfolios. Use individual portfolios to collect course work and reflect on growth, group or class portfolios to create content websites on specific topics or projects, and the conversations feature to include peer review or commenting. ePortfolios are a High-Impact Educational Practice.

    • Contact our ePortfolio Initiative Coordinator at 907-786-6035 or at pwasko@alaska.edu for ePortfolio assistance, or visit the ePortfolio website to customize your project and develop student instructions. 
    • 别奥辞濒蹿鈥檚  introductory ePortfolio
    •  (examples of efforts around the University)
  • VoiceThread

    VoiceThread

    VoiceThread is a Blackboard-integrated tool to hold asynchronous discussions on slides, images, or video presentations. Students can comment at specific times in a presentation, answer each other鈥檚 questions, and create their own presentations.

    •  shows how to use this tool with Blackboard
    •  (video)
    •  guide
  • Google Apps

    Google Apps

    Google Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides, etc. are part of UA鈥檚 Google Suite for Education. Many instructors use these platforms to share information with students, but they also support both synchronous and asynchronous peer interaction and collaborative work.

    •  guide 
  •  Microsoft Office 365 (including Teams)

    Microsoft Office 365 (including Teams)

    Office 365 is a productivity tool for UA students, faculty, and staff. Students can share files via OneDrive and edit using the Office Online versions of MS Word, PowerPoint, Excel, etc. Unlike Google Apps, only one user at a time can edit files. The programs鈥� downloadable desktop versions have more features than the web versions.

    Office 365 includes Teams, a chat-based platform that classes can use to incorporate social media style discussions on a UA-password-protected tool.

    •  guide

 Resources

  •  webinar (video, 21:55) has tips for asynchronous class discussions and student engagement
  • Course Design Trail Guide Module 4: Build a Learning Path, has a course activity tool to help you narrow your choices (it鈥檚 in section 5. 鈥淧lan an Activity鈥�)
  • , Chickering & Gamson, 1987
  • , Moore 1989
  • , UDL CAST

Faculty Development & Instructional Support 
Center for Advancing Faculty Excellence, Instructional Design, and Center for Community Engagement and Learning 
Library 213 鈥� 907-786-4496 鈥� uaa_facultysuccess@alaska.edu 鈥� Monday 鈥� Friday, 8 a.m. 鈥�&苍产蝉辫;5 p.m.