AI Use in Online Course Discussions

Beth Oyarzun

The hum of my online graduate course felt off in the summer of 2023.

I teach a course entitled “Design, Development, and Evaluation of Online Learning Systems” in which students learn to design and develop a fully online asynchronous course within a learning management system like Canvas. The discussion boards require students to explore online learning pedagogy and best practices. Many students are currently teachers but teach mainly in a face to face setting.

A subtle, unsettling uniformity permeated the discussion boards. The usual spark, the messy, passionate exchange of ideas, was replaced by a sterile, grammatically flawless precision. It wasn’t just good writing; it was too good. Suspicion turned to confirmation: Generative AI. My initial frustration wasn’t just about academic dishonesty; it was a deeper sense of loss. The heart of online learning, the vibrant exchange of human perspectives, felt threatened.

I provide substantial support to students to get them familiar and functional in R. Initial code files, videos, class time, and office hours dedicated to improving students’ ability to conduct statistical analyses in R. It has taken this effort to learn a programming language because it truly is a different language. If only there was a tool available to translate common terms into R code.

I could have banned AI, but that felt like a retreat. Instead, I decided to adapt.

I dove into my discussion prompts, dissecting them, searching for the gaps that allowed AI to thrive. Many were too generic, too focused on regurgitating information. They lacked connecting content to personal experiences.

“What questions would a machine struggle to answer?”;

I asked myself. The answer: questions that demanded vulnerability, reflection, and unique human experience. I rewrote prompts, weaving in personal stories and challenging students to connect theory to their lived realities. For example:

Connect the types of online teaching and learning contexts to your own experiences and/or professional goals.
Have you had personal experiences with any of these instructional delivery methods?
How have they influenced your approach to online learning or teaching?
Additionally, how do you envision applying these methods in your future career or course design projects?

I also used GenAI as a collaborator, brainstorming new angles and refining my language. It was a strange, almost ironic, partnership.

The transformation was immediate. The discussions came alive. Students shared vulnerable stories, fears, and triumphs. The digital classroom pulsed with renewed energy, a sense of authentic connection that had been missing. One student shared a poignant story about being a neurodivergent online learner and the challenges and opportunities they experienced in asynchronous online learning from that perspective. These changes allowed me to get to know learners better and to adjust facilitation strategies to meet their needs.

It wasn’t just about preventing AI misuse; it was about reaffirming the value of human experience.

The challenge forced me to re-examine my pedagogy, to rediscover the power of personal connection in the digital age. The sterile perfection of the algorithm had given way to the vibrant, unpredictable beauty of human interaction. The disruption, in the end, became an opportunity for growth, a reminder that even in the age of AI, the human element remains irreplaceable.

Note: Generative AI (Gemini) was used to refine this story.