Discussions

Discussions are an important and very common component of an online course. As in a face-to-face class, online discussions can:

engage students
provide an opportunity for students to apply course concepts
allow students to participate in a low-stakes assignment
help students become familiar with classmates
help expose students to diverse perspectives and ideas

To create a new Discussion, click on the “Communication” tab, then select “Discussions.”

In the Discussions area, click the “New” button to create a new Forum and then a New Topic. The course will need to have at least one Forum.

Communication -> Discussions -> Forum & Topic

Discussion Forum

A “Discussion Forum” is a folder or category that holds “Discussion Topics.” At least one Discussion Forum needs to be created before you can create a Discussion Topic.

To create a Forum, click the blue “New” button, and select “Forum.”

On the “Properties” tab of the “New Forum” page:

Add a Title for the Forum. Common titles include a forum for the unit or for the week, such as “Unit 1 Discussions” or “Week 1 Discussions.” The course can also have only one Forum for all of the Discussion Topics.

Add an optional description for the Forum. Description information can apply to all of the Discussion Topics in this Forum, and they can include information about netiquette or submission guidelines.

The “Restrictions” tab of the Forum allows you to assign a Start and End Date; however, access dates are usually assigned to the Discussion Topic, not to the Forum.

Click “Save and Close” when all settings for the Forum are complete.

Discussion Topics

The “Discussion Topic” is the specific discussion assignment. The Discussion Topic contains the discussion prompt or question, assignment requirements, submission instructions, and start and end Dates. The Discussion Topic is where students will submit their discussion posts.

To create a Discussion Topic, click on the blue “New” button in the main Discussions area, then select “New Topic.”

On the “Properties” tab of the “New Topic” page,

Assign the Discussion Topic to a Forum in the Forum drop-down menu. Discussion Topics must be assigned to a Forum.
Add a Title for the Discussion Topic. Discussion titles often refer to a week, a unit, or a chapter (such as “Week 1 Discussion” or “Unit 1 Discussion” or “Chapter 1 Discussion”), or they contain a unique title.
In the “Description” box, add the specific discussion prompt or question, and include assignment requirements and submission instructions.

In the “Options” section, select whether a student must start a new thread before responding to others. This may be useful for promoting academic integrity and for encouraging an unbiased, original response.

When all settings on the “Properties” tab are complete, click “Save” at the bottom of the page, and go to next tab.

Restrictions Tab

The “Restrictions” tab allows you to set the due date and access dates for the Discussion.

Remove the checkmark next to “Hide from Users” to make the discussion visible to students.

Discussion Topics have two sets of dates.

In the "Availability" section, the Start and End Dates determine when students are able to see the Discussion Topic. Add checkmarks and adjust the dates and times to make the Discussion Topic visible only during a specific time period. Otherwise, do not add checkmarks or dates in this section in order to allow students to see the Discussion Topic at all times.

The second set of dates, in the “Locking Options” section, determine when students are able to submit to a Discussion Topic. Instructors usually add dates to this section.

Select one of the three options:

A “Locked” Discussion Topic means that students are able to see and read posts in the Discussion, but they are no longer able to make contributions.
Setting Discussion Topics to “Unlocked” is useful for the “General Questions” Discussion Topic and for other Discussion Topics that must always be open for students to contribute.
Most graded Discussion Topics use the option for “Unlock topic for a specific date range.” This setting means students can submit discussion posts only during this specified date range.

With the third option, add checkmarks to the Start and End Dates, and adjust the dates and times to indicate when students can start submitting their discussion posts and when discussion posts are no longer accepted.

Further below is the option to assign Discussion Groups.

Click “Save” at the bottom, and go to the Assessment tab.

Assessment Tab

The “Assessment” tab allows you to connect the Discussion Topic to the Gradebook and to provide other grading information.

In the “Grade Item” drop-down menu, connect the Discussion Topic with a corresponding grade item from the Gradebook, or click “New Grade Item” to create a column in the Gradebook for this Discussion Topic.

Enter the points possible for this Discussion Topic.

If your course has an existing grading rubric for the discussion, click the box to "Add Rubric," or click the link to create a new one. (Grading Rubrics are optional. Contact Online Learning or the Center for Teaching & Learning for more information about Grading Rubrics.)

When all settings on the “Assessment” tab are complete, click “Save” at the bottom.