This study examined asynchronous online discussions in the online course "English Language Development" to identify themes related to participants' learning about the language and literacy development of English Language Learners when they facilitated online discussions to determine whether the participants developed sufficient understanding to effectively educate ELLs. Participants were 29 teachers and teacher candidates enrolled at a large research university. Two questions were addressed: (1) What do candidates identify as key issues for the literacy development of ELLs when they facilitate online discussions? and (2) In what ways did they discuss these key issues in the online environment? The analysis of weekly online discussion postings (n = 154) indicated that student-discussion facilitation affected the levels of the participants' understanding of the literacy development of ELLs.