Discussions
Use the discussion tool to create discussion topics for your class to collaborate together. Discussions are generally text-based (like a message board), but the tool does allow for various audio/video sharing as well.
In order to best understand discussions, it is important to understand their structure. At the highest level you have discussion forums. These serve as a folder or category for discussion topics to be housed. To help with organization, you may choose to group discussion topics into forums for each Unit or Week of the course. The discussion topics are the home to various threads and posts that you and your students share.
Create a Forum or Topic
Create a Forum & Topic
Go to the Discussions tool (under the More Tools drop-down menu) and select New Forum from the New drop-down menu.
Title your discussion forum in the appropriate field.
Add a description of your discussion forum in the appropriate field.
Select your desired options from the Options section.
If you do not wish to add a topic under the discussion forum at this time, click the Save and Close button at the bottom of the page. If you do wish to create a topic under this discussion forum at this time, click the Save and Add Topic button at the bottom of the page.
Title your discussion topic in the appropriate field.
Draft your discussion topic in the Description field.
Select your desired options from the Options section.
Select your desired topic visibility options from the Availability section.
Select your desired locking options from the Locking Options section.
If you do not wish to create another discussion topic for this forum, click the Save and Close button at the bottom of the page. If you do wish to create another discussion topic for this forum, click the Save and New button at the bottom of the page and repeat steps 6-11.
Adding a New Topic
Go to the Discussions tool (under the More Tools drop-down menu) and locate the forum in which you wish to add a topic. Select New Topic from the drop-down menu located next to the forum title.
Title your discussion topic in the appropriate field.
Draft your discussion topic in the Description field.
Select your desired options from the Options section.
Select your desired topic visibility options from the Availability section.
Select your desired locking options from the Locking Options section.
If you do not wish to create another discussion topic for this forum, click the Save and Close button at the bottom of the page.
If you do wish to create another discussion topic for this forum, click the Save and New button at the bottom of the page and repeat steps 2-7.
Respond to a Discussion Post
Locate the appropriate discussion topic in the Content tool and click on the discussion link.
Locate the discussion thread for which you would like to respond and click on the subject link.
Click on the Reply to Thread button.
Draft your response to the discussion post in the appropriate field.
Click the Post button.
After clicking Post, the below pop-up message should appear confirming successful submission. Click here for more info on engaging in Discussions
FAQ
What is the difference between a Discussion Forum and a Discussion Topic?
A Discussion Forum is like a category or folder that houses Discussion Topics. It is mainly used to set up specific settings for the Topics it houses, but it can be used to sort your Topics by Unit/Module/Week, content. etc.
A Discussion Topic is the actual discussion that students participate in. Your Topic should have a title with instructions laid out in the description field. Students will then start their own Threads on your Topic, and they will be able to respond to other student Posts.
What should I do if students can't see a Discussion Topic?
The first thing you should check is if the Topic or the Topic's Forum have a Start or End Date set as this can limit access before and/or after these set dates. Next, check if there are any Release Conditions as these could limit access if students have not completed the necessary requirements. Finally, make sure your Topic and the Topic's Forum are visible to students.
Why am I not able to assess my student's Discussion Post?
If you are not seeing an option to assess your student's Post, it is probably due to the Topic missing an associated Grade Item. Edit the Discussion Topic to make sure it has a Grade Item associated. If it does not, you may add a new Grade Item and then you should be able to assess your student's Posts.
Do I have to create a Forum for each Topic?
You do not have to create a Forum for each Topic, however, you cannot have a Topic without a Forum. Since Forums house Topics, you can have as many Forums as you want/need, and you can have as many Topics as you want under a single Forum.
How do I set up a Private Discussion so I can communicate with my learners?
In your course, go to Course Admin
Select Groups
Click the New Category button
Add a name and optional description
Under Enrollment Type, select "Single user, member-specific groups"
Click on the checkbox next to Set up Discussion areas
Select or Create a Forum
Leave Create a Topic selected
Click Save when done
From there, it should automatically create groups for each learner in your course and create a Discussion Topic in the Forum you chose/created. You can then have a private discussion with each student that can only be accessed by you, the student, and Brightspace Support.
How do I see who posted an anonymous Discussion Post?
In your course, go to More Tools then Discussions
Select the Discussion Topic that has the Anonymous posting
Click Show Author next to the post title to view the author
If you are viewing a Topic in Grid View, you will need to do the following:
In your course, go to More Tools then Discussions
Select the Discussion Topic that has the anonymous posts
Click on any of the replies that were posted by an Anonymous author, shown in the Author By column
Select the Information Button (i icon) next to the post date
From there, you should be able to see who posted the anonymous reply.