If you are ready to shake-up your discussion forums, you might want to try a strategy called “digital #power-ups.” The concept and implementation of digital #power-ups have been presented at InstructureCon (Canvas Conference) and through podcasts by Travis Thurston, Assistant Director of Empowering Teaching Excellence (ETE) at Utah State University. Thurston uses digital #power-ups in his courses to get away from unhelpful online forums and encourage deeper thinking and collaborative construction of knowledge. The following is a summary of how instructors can implement the strategy in their own courses.

First, what are digital #power-ups? They are discussion activities that are intentionally designed for interaction and higher order thinking. Digital #power-ups allow students various ways to participate and construct knowledge as a group. Each digital #power-up has three key elements: (1) a hashtag, (2) a cue word from Bloom’s Taxonomy, and (3) a corresponding prompt. Simply stated, digital #power-ups are keywords displayed as hashtags that are associated with corresponding prompts in online discussions. Below is a list of options students can choose from when responding to a prompt:

• Remember: List or restate something you just read, then, add an opinion in your response.
  Use #remember

• Understand: Ask a question that will help you understand what you read. Allow a peer to respond to your question.
  Use #understand

• Apply: Organize what you read into something new. Include a poem, chart, timeline, diagram or model in your response.
  Use #apply

• Analyze: Examine a quote you read, then compare it to a different text. Explain why you think they are related.
  Use #analyze

• Evaluate: Critique something you read in a respectful manner. Cite text-based evidence in your response. 
  Use #evaluate

• Create: Develop a novel response based on what you read using text, video, or other supplies to innovate.
  Use #create

• Connect: Connect to an issue outside of school. Think globally, and share how you collaborated in your response (this requires actual action on your part).
  Use #connect

When students use Bloom’s taxonomy as a scaffold to engage in higher-level discourse in online discussions, students are found to reach higher levels of cognitive processing, engage in metacognition, and become more involved in the classroom learning community (Valcke, De Wever, Zhu, & Deed, 2009). Structuring online discussions with Bloom’s is one way to scaffold student participation and support students engaging in both social presence and cognitive presence aspects of discourse (deNoyelles, Zydney, & Chen, 2014).

Students are instructed to use two or three #power-ups in their initial post and to use one or two in their response to peers. This allows students to adapt their responses to fit their own context and learning preferences. It also allows seven different entry points for students to engage in the discussion. “We’re giving them choice and voice..and a way to pull from their own lived experiences, from things they are already doing, something that’s relevant to them and bring it together with the content of the course and really engage with their peers” ( Honeycutt, 2022).

Instead of starting with a single question, a good prompt can be framed in four ways. Start with an introduction paragraph addressing the content and focusing on main points. Add some additional content to contextualize ideas such as a graphic organizer or a YouTube video. Next provide a few ideas to ponder, not necessarily questions to be answered, rather, a springboard to help synthesize the content. And finally, provide instructions with each #power-up, reminding students of your expectations.

Thurston further explains how digital #power-ups can help overcome 3 “inadequacies” of online discussion forums. The first inadequacy is that there is often a lack of critical thinking on the student end. By giving students choice and voice when participating, they can more easily move into higher order thinking because they are already connected to their response. 

“The second inadequacy that we see in online discussions is a lack of co-construction of knowledge, that actual discourse of students kind of going back and forth, not only navigating the content, but navigating their own experience, bringing their own insights into it, and having some sort of a back and forth together to create understanding and build new knowledge” (Honeycutt, 2022). Students have to use one or two power ups to respond to classmates instead of simply agreeing or thumbs up responses. Rather, they can engage in back and forth to develop some discourse. 

“And third, we also know that oftentimes the more quality posts end up getting buried in the threads. Students who either have a great understanding of the concept, or have a really interesting insight from their own lived experience, oftentimes that doesn't necessarily rise to the top in the discussion and that sometimes can get overshadowed by other things. And so what I found in this digital powerup strategy is that we can actually address all three of those inadequacies by using this in our own classes” (Honeycutt, 2022). 

To move the best responses up in Canvas Discussions, instructors can allow students to “like” a post. Students are given one vote for the best post and told to use it as currency by picking only one post. In feedback to Thurston, several students pointed out “they felt an accountability to their peers to make sure they were making quality posts and contributing in a quality way to the weekly discussion.” This also gets students to read more posts.

You can read a sample discussion forum here. Of course, digital #power-ups can be adapted to your course. You may also want to read more about two other discussion tools available to LSA instructors. YellowDig and Harmonize discussion tools have more of a social media look and feel, more features, and either tool would be an excellent option for this approach. If you would like to learn more about our online discussion tools, YellowDig, Harmonize, or Canvas Discussions, complete this form for a consultation.

References

deNoyelles, A., Zydney, J. M., & Chen, B. (2014). Strategies for creating a community of inquiry through online asynchronous discussions. Journal of Online Learning and Teaching, 10(1), 153-165.

Honeycutt, B. (retrieved 2022, May 1) How to use digital #power-ups to create engaging online discussions with Dr. Travis Thurston.(No. 60) [Audio podcast episode]. In Lecture Breakers. https://barbihoneycutt.com/blogs/podcast/episode-60-how-to-use-digital-power-ups-to-create-engaging-online-discussions-with-dr-travis-thurston

Utah State University: Office of Empowering Teaching Excellence. (2021). Digital #power-ups: Empowering students with choice and voice in online discussions. [Video]. YouTube. https://www.usu.edu/empowerteaching/engage/archives/recordings/thurston_digitalpowerups_conf2020

Valcke, M., De Wever, B., Zhu, C., & Deed, C. (2009). Supporting active cognitive processing in collaborative groups: The potential of Bloom’s taxonomy as a labeling tool. The Internet and Higher Education, 12(3), 165-172.