Forum Activity
Forums can be used to enable non-synchronous communication in Moodle. The most commonly used forum is the 'Standard forum for general use'.
Description of the 5 different forum types:
A single simple discussion - One discussion topic, which allows everyone to reply to
Each person posts one discussion - Each student can post one new discussion topic, which everyone can then reply to.
Q and A forum - Students have to post a comment before being able to view other students' posts
Standard forum displayed in a blog-like format - Everyone can start a new discussion thread at any time. The first contribution to topic shows on the page.
Standard forum for general use - An open forum where everyone can start a new discussion at any time. Topics show as links.
Setting forum to 'optional' subscription
The most common subscription setting for forum is 'optional' subscription. You might wish to tell your students on how to adjust the subscription settings by giving them a link to the following page:
https://sites.google.com/a/brookes.ac.uk/moodle_student_support/home/6-subscribing-to-forums
Instructions on:
Using 'ForumNG' to set up learning logs
Making forums 'read only'
To prevent further student contributions to a Forum, you need to change the permissions for the activity to make it read only. Note: unlike ‘Restrict access’ settings, this method of closing a forum allows students to read posts made before the deadline.
On your course page, click the link to the Forum. The forum page will open.
Go to the Settings block and click Permissions (not Check permissions). The ‘Permissions in forum...’ screen will open.
From the Advanced role override drop down menu, select Student.
Under the heading Activity: Forum, click Prevent for the following: Reply to posts and Start new discussions.
Do not change any other permissions.
Scroll to the bottom of the list of permissions and click Save changes. Students will immediately lose their ability to post, but will still be able to read what has been posted on the forum.