Discord LMS?

[Randall Fujimoto]

Now that Discord has discussion forums capabilities, do you think Discord can be used as an LMS substitute, or at least a substitute for many LMS functions?

Of course, it doesn't have the capabilities to integrate with school data (student info, grades, etc.). However, I think Discord can probably provide a better learning experience for classes because it provides more ways for students to interact with each other and therefore provide more social learning opportunities - and likely more playful learning opportunities.

You can also setup Discord bots to do things like giving different roles to people (e.g., moderator role, specific channel access, etc.). I think it's also possible to have buttons to allow people to award skill points to others, which is my main reason for looking into this.

Thoughts on any of this?

[Lauren Malone]

I'm actually presenting on this in a few weeks haha! Yes, a lot of things can be done on Discord. I haven't ever had students turn in assignments or get grades, but group work, movie chats (I teach media studies) and different channels for different aspects of the course work really well. I use roles & bots to gamify things a bit. I also try to teach moderation, so roles come in handy to switch out mods throughout the term. My normal channel setup for a course is:

Text Channels

Course Notes (for live note-taking and/or posting copies of notes)

Further Discussion (for my students who need a little more time thinking about their comment for the topic of discussion)

Questions (I try to specify that this is for major assignment questions and that personal questions like grades or scheduling conflicts should be a DM or an email)

Good News (for pet pictures and celebrating victories)

Voice Channels 

One per group

Class Time (if I'm teaching online) 

Office Hours

Then I'll add channels as required/requested for specifics. So one of my classes has a podcast hub where they post links to their podcasts/discuss ones they've listened to. Or I'll have a Samples channel or Streaming Links channel for my game writing courses. 

As you pointed out, it's good for the social aspects of class. In my experience, students seem to like it more than discussion posts on Blackboard/Canvas. 

LM

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Subject: Discord LMS?

 

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