Focus with a WTL
If a discussion turns into a heated debate, or gets so off track that you're lost on what to do, use a Writing to Learn (W.T.L.) activity to focus students' attention. Ask students to take out a sheet of paper and put their personal views down in writing. Then, tell them that they can post these reactions to the online class forum and continue the "off track" conversation outside of class. With that aside, you can then request that students turn their attention back to the original focus of the class.