Discussion Hero
Discussion Hero is a Canvas tool developed at Northwestern University that provides an entertaining and engaging game-style approach to participating in discussion boards. The philosophy behind Discussion Hero is that online discussion boards can be made more productive by leveraging game-style formats that encourage diverse points of view, questioning, and respectful debate and dialogue. Through the use of hero and villain avatars, Discussion Hero builds upon the role play genre. It uses traditional awarding of points with a game-like progress meter that is generated by a customizable rating rubric. This progress meter allows students to see how they are performing on their discussion posts in real-time and provides an incentive to view participation as healthy competition.
Below you will find a walkthrough video of how Discussion Hero works.
How it Works
Discussion Hero is designed to put participants into two distinct roles in the discussion forums: Heroes and Villains. Student participants choose which role they want on a first come, first serve basis. Once they make the selection, a unique avatar is also chosen. They then participate as they normally would in a discussion, with criteria set up by the teacher that students must meet. The criteria may be related to students as a narrative, i.e. instructions, or via a rubric. Teachers select topics and design prompts to provide an opportunity for students to take positions they may agree or disagree with. Students must think critically about the subject matter, citing literature, and using graphics and media as well as embedded web sites within their posts to defend their arguments. Discussion Hero provides for manual or automated grading based on teacher customized rubrics. Heroes and Villains compete in a respectful and engaging way either as individuals or in teams.
Why use Discussion Hero?
Discussion Boards in online courses and trainings can be hit or miss, even when instructors design carefully worded prompts. While discussion boards are often meant for vigorous discourse and a variety of opinions and positions, some students simply do not want to go against the majority and always tend to agree even if they do not feel the same way. Discussion Hero was designed to apply a growing body of evidence that game-style environments don’t only belong in video games and mobile learning apps, but can also be used effectively in online courses, both at the undergraduate and graduate level.
Discussion Hero also allows students and teachers to use powerful online discussion features not readily available in the standard Canvas discussion board. These features include:
- Optional anonymous posting.
- The ability to drag and drop image files directly into a discussion post.
- The ability to drag and drop audio and video files (file size limited) directly into a discussion post.
- The ability to embed web page previews and hyperlinks directly into discussion posts.
- A customizable rating rubric.
- Automated or manual grade entry.
Who developed Discussion Hero?
Discussion Hero was developed as a collaborative effort between Northwestern’s School of Professional Studies (Jacob Guerra-Martinez and David Noffs) and Northwestern’s Information Technology Services & Support Teaching & Learning Technologies (Jacob Collins). The project was supported in part by the Provost’s Digital Learning Fellowship.
How can I receive more information about Discussion Hero?
To find out more about Discussion Hero, receive an instructor guide, learn how you can add it to your online class discussions, or to be added to our Discussion Hero mailing list, contact Dr Reba-Anna Lee or Dan Murphy at discussionhero@northwestern.edu. If you are not a part of the Northwestern Community, please let us know, and we can send you the latest information on our efforts to make Discussion Hero an open-source resource for other institutions.
How do I install Discussion Hero in my course?
Discussion Hero was developed at Northwestern University and can be installed using the Northwestern Learning App Store. If you are not at Northwestern, an open source version of Discussion Hero will be released in the future. Please check back for updates on Discussion Hero.