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Discussions: Participate in online discussions
Engage in an online discussion around course topics!
The Discussions tool is a collaboration area with a variety of uses in a course:
- initiate and contribute to discussions on course-related topics
- ask questions of your instructor and peers
- collaborate on assignments and homework in a safe environment, where appropriate
| Level | Description |
|---|---|
| Forum | Organize discussions into broader groups. Most courses only need one main forum. In order to have any discussions happen, a forum must be created by the Instructor (or someone like a TA). |
| Topic | Group discussions into sub-groups under a forum. For example, if the students are expected to post on a weekly discussion concept, a 'Week 1' "topic" would be appropriate here. In order to have any discussions happen, a topic must be created by the Instructor (or someone like a TA). |
| Discussion thread | This is the real meat of the Discussions tool. The actual discussions that are comprised of the initial post and all replies to that post. |
Find Discussions in the top menu, under Communication.
- Click Communication > Discussions from the navbar.
- Click on the name of the topic that will house your thread.
- If you want to create a new thread, click Start a New Thread. If you would like to post a reply to an existing thread, click the name of the thread that has already been started.
- Write your message (don’t forget to add a subject if it’s a new thread) and click Post for your thread to go live.
Found a discussion that you want to continue?
It's important to reply to existing posts in order to continue a discussion, instead of starting a new post of your own.
- Make sure you are reading the full post, then click the "Reply" button.
- Compose your response, and click "Post".