Breakout Discussions would enable instructors to orchestrate multi-phase discussions that mirror effective classroom facilitation patterns. An instructor creates a master discussion topic, then segments participants into small breakout groups for focused conversation, and finally reconvenes everyone into a unified thread for synthesis and whole-class dialogue. This is a not a new feature idea and something that has been requested since at least 2017. The current discussion interface, even with recent updates, does not address this important need.
This is my suggestion on how I'd recommend making this work:
User Experience
Phase 1: Setup: The instructor creates a discussion and enables Breakout Discussion Mode. They can specify:
- # of groups or group size
- Whether to use existing Canvas groups or create ad-hoc groups
- Group assignment method (random, self-select, manual)
- Phase duration (optional time limits for each segment)
Phase 2: Breakout: Once activated, students only see their assigned group's discussion thread. The interface clearly indicates that they are in a breakout discussion with their group name displayed. Students post, reply, and interact with only their group members. Instructors can monitor all groups simultaneously through a facilitator view and optionally join specific groups to provide guidance.
Phase 3: Reconvene: The instructor manually transitions to whole-group mode (or it triggers automatically based on time). All breakout threads become read-only and are visually collapsed or archived. A new, unified discussion thread opens where all participants can now see and respond to each other. Optionally, instructors can feature selected posts from breakout groups to seed the larger group conversation.
Expected Backend Architecture Changes
DB Schema
New Tables:
- segmented_discussions: to store configuration and current phase for each segmented discussion
- discussion_segments: to represent each breakout group/segment within a discussion
- discussion_sement_memberships: to track which users belong to which segments
Modified Table:
- discussion_entries: add discussion_segment_id column to associate post with specific segments
Group Management
- Automatically create temporary Canvas group objects for ad-hoc breakout groups
- Mark groups as temporary_for_discussion: true for lifecycle management
- Use existing Canvas group infrastructure for permissions and roster mgmt.
Authorization System
- Modify discussion entry read/write permissions to filter by segment membership
- Implement phase-aware access control (students can only see their group during breakout, all groups when reconvened)
- Maintain instructor override for all segments in all phases
This is obviously a high-level view but in my over 9 years of using Canvas, this is the one issue that has resurfaced over and over again. This is such an important component of instruction and teachers are begging for it. It acts as the foundation for a number of new types of activities that were previously only possible in a physical space, eg. Jigsaw, Think-Pair-Share, Each One, Teach One, Fishbowl Discussions, Problem-Based Learning, Debate Prep, Gallery Walk Prep, Case Study Analysis, etc. There are tons more that teachers could really use in an online space.
