- Discussions can be used in any Course and can be initiated by Course Directors, Course Coordinators, Faculty, or Students assigned to a Course.
- If a Discussion is set as Public, any user that can open and view the Event Screen can join and comment in the Discussion.
- Non-public (or Private) Discussions have a defined set of users that can access the Discussion.
- The Activity Bell notification option only works with Private Discussions.
- In order to reduce the list of participants for a private Discussion, schedule Discussions from a Small Group Event.
- A Discussion can be deleted by the author of the Discussion (except Students) or any other Admin-level User of the system.
Path: Home > Courses > [Select Course] > select Course Template > Discussions > Options > New Discussion
This screen allows you to manage the Discussion settings, which include:
- The title (*) of the Discussion, is not a unique field, but you are encouraged to make your Discussion name distinctive. TIP: 'Discussion' is not a good name.
- Public: If a Discussion is public then any user that can get to the info screen can join the Discussion. Non-public (private) Discussions have a defined set of users who can access the Discussion.
If you have the Public dropdown set to No this is a private discussion. Prior to making your Discussion Board going out to end-Users, you must select more than one User from the following screen after clicking Save Record.
Once you add the required Users to participate you will be brought to the Discussion Board.
NOTE: If this is a private (non-public) Discussion, then this is where you can assign the Exam that will be used by Faculty to evaluate Students. The Exam can only contain multiple-choice questions.
Until you create a Topic nobody will be notified that there is a new Discussion. If you want others to participate in your Discussion, you need to create a Topic after the initial set up of the Discussion. Once the Topic has been added or additional posts have been made, Users will receive an alert in their Activity Bell.
To add a Topic select the Create new Topic in the top left corner of the Discussion Board screen.
Enter in the Topic prompt you would like to have your Users view to help start the discussion. When done click Submit Reply.
Your Topic will now be posted on to the Discussion Board and all Users participating in the Discussion will receive an Alert in their Activity Bell.
From here you will be able to view, modify, and manage the content which is posted on this Discussion Board.
When you compose and/or edit a post, you will have the ability to not only utilize alpha and numeric letters in your posts, but you can 'upload new files' or 'browse your files' to see files you've already uploaded previously.
Hide Deleted: Click here to hide the deleted Content
Reply: Click on the Reply option of a post to continue the conversation under that topic.
Edit: Should a User need to modify their content on the Discussion Board they will be able to click Edit. Additionally, any User with a security level of 70 and up can edit other users' posts.
Show Reply: Click the Show Reply button to see an expanded and/or condense the list of all of the replies made to the post.
Delete: Click this icon if you would like to remove your post on the Discussion Board. Additionally, any User with a security level of 70 and up will be able to remove other users' posts.
Adding Content to your post
To Reply to a post and add an embedded link or document click Reply on the post you would like to comment on.
On the Reply pop up you will have the ability to free text and/or add content through the following Attachment options:
- Upload New Files: Click on this option to locate a file on your computer to upload into the Discussion Board Reply post.
- Browse Your Files: Click on this option to add a file to your Reply which you have previously used in either another Discussion Board or a previous Post.
When you are done with your Reply click Save Post.
Any information you have provided whether it be text, documents you have uploaded, or content you have embedded. The reply will display on the Discussion Board.
Note: Administrators with a Security Role of 70+ will be able to manage, view, edit, or delete all posts and replies in a discussion. Additionally, they will be able to view all deleted posts and replies and restore them. See when a post or reply has been edited.
To embed a Video into a Topic or Reply:
- Click on the embed video button as seen below.
- Next, paste the embed code into the Embed Media screen.
- Click OK.
- When you are finished adding in the video, click Save at the bottom of the Discussion Post screen.
The video will be embedded in the Topic or Reply (as seen below).
You will be able to test that the embedded code worked on the Topic or Reply screen by clicking play.
NOTE: If you are having issues with placing in the video, make sure it is the video's embedded code and not the regular URL.
This report shows all of the active Discussions at the Course Template Level.
You can click on any Discussion to open it and take part in the Discussion.
For detailed information on managing Discussions at the Section Level, please refer to Section Level: Discussion Menu article.
Some Discussions are locked down, and you will be given a warning message if you are not allowed access to the Discussion.