In Focus – Anonymous Discussions
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In Focus – Anonymous Discussions / Learn by blogadmin is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution CC BY 3.0
After much clamour Blackboard have finally released Anonymous Discussions (read about them and more in the April Release), albeit to mixed reactions. While it is undoubtedly a step in the right direction, the current iteration is somewhat limited in functionality. We detail its use below so instructors are clear with what it can – and crucially can’t – do.
What can it do?
An instructor can choose to allow anonymous posts in ungraded discussions. This first step is instructor led, which means the student is then able to post anonymously by checking the “post anonymous” box, while leaving it unchecked would post normally. An instructor can also turn off anonymous posting mid discussion. After that point, any time a student were to post, they would no longer see the option to post anonymously. However, previous anonymous posts would remain as such.
Image 1. Setting to turn on anonymous posts
Image 2. A student making an anonymous post
What can’t it do?
While the instructor can enable anonymous posts, they don’t have the option to create an entirely anonymous discussion, which means that ultimately it is the student who decides if they wish to post anonymously or not. Giving students agency is no doubt integral to their development in their academic life; however, the result of this functionality limits how an instructor may want to implement an anonymous discussion.
One such limitation is that graded discussions can’t be made anonymous. Graded discussions are popularly used across many courses, and so there was (and is) a keen interest that this feature be made available.
Additionally, while an anonymous post can be deleted, it can’t be de-anonymised. While this does offer protection to the student, it offers little protection at a school level if intervention were needed due to safeguarding issues or other such concerns.
What next?
To reiterate, Blackboard bringing back Anonymous Discussions is a positive step, but the hope is that it will already be working towards improvements to provide a better learning and teaching experience.
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Great to have the option for students to post anonymously back again – thank you!