Discussion

From e-Learning Documentation

Revision as of 13:37, 28 September 2010

Discussion Overview

The Discussion tool is useful for encouraging student interaction. Students can discuss topics assigned by the Instructor. Discussions are "threaded" so that when all posts are opened, the conversation can be read in order so that the postings can be seen in the context of the conversation.

Discussions can also be used to allow small groups to collaborate together on projects. Files and links can be shared, in addition to the threaded conversation.

NOTE: The terms "Discussion" and "Forum" are used interchangeably.

Create a Discussion (Forum)

The Discussion is an organizing tool for the Topics. The Topics are where the conversation actually takes place. The Discussion controls the Topics that are added to it. For example, if the Discussion is set to "draft" mode, all of the topics are also "draft," and when the Discussion is released, the topics are also released. The settings and permissions that you establish at the Discussion level, carry over to all the Topics that you create under that Discussion. You may change the settings at the Topic level, but by default, they will be the same as whatever you set at the Discussion level.

From within the course in which you want to create a Discussion:

1. Click Discussions
2. At the top of the screen, click New Forum.
3. "Forum Title" - Type in a title for this Discussion. This is a required field, and is limited to 75 characters.
4. "Short Description" - If you want, provide a brief description (limited to 255 characters) that will be displayed along with the title in the Discussion area.
5. "Description" - If you need more than the 255 characters provided in the "Short Description," or if you need the formatting capabilities of the Content Editor, enter the description of your Discussion here.
6. If you have an Attachment that you would like to add to the Discussion, click Add attachments. You will be taken to a screen which will let you attach a copy of any file in your Resources, or upload a file that is not in your Resources.
   • Attach from Resources - In the lower half of the screen, you will see the Resources for this course. Click Attach a copy beside the file you want to attach.
   • Upload a File - In the upper half of the screen, click Choose File, locate the file on your computer and double-click it. Click Continue.
7. "Forum Posting"
   • "Lock Forum (Disable forum postings)"- Change the "No" to "Yes" if you want to stop participants from posting to any Topic in this Forum. If you select this option as you are building the Discussion, students will be able to see the Discussion and Topics under it, but will not be able to post. You can change this setting back to "No" when you are ready for them to begin posting. Likewise, you may come back at a future date and change it to "Yes" if you want them to no longer be able to post to this Discussion and the Topics under it.
   • "Moderate Topics in Forum" - If you change this option to "Yes," you will have to approve each participants' posting before it will be posted to the Topic for everyone to read.
8. "Mark Threads Read" - The Discussion tool keeps up with how many posts you have read. If you change this option to "Yes," whenever you open a thread in any Topic, it will automatically mark every posting as "read."
9. "Permissions" -

NOTE: The Gradebook item MUST already be created in the gradebook for this option to be available. To add an item to the Gradebook, refer to the Gradebook documentation.

Step 11: To save the forum and to add a topic, click Save Settings & Add Topic. Click Save Draft to save your forum as a draft or click Cancel to exit and return to the Discussion screen. Discussion saved as a draft will not be available to site participants.

NOTE: When you create a forum, you will need to add a least one topic so site participants can post messages. The forum will not be visible to participants unless a topic is added.

Step 12: In the Topic Title field, type your topic’s title. This is a required field, and is limited to 75 characters.

Step 13: In the Short Description field, you have the option of providing a brief description (limited to 100 characters) that will be displayed below the title in the Discussion area.

Step 14: In the Description field, you may enter an in-depth description of your topic, and provide any associated information or resources.

Step 15: To add an attachment from your local computer or from Resources, under Attachments, click Add Attachment. The file selector screen will open.

Step 16: To disable topic postings, under Topic Posting, click the Yes radio button next to Lock Topic (Disable topic postings). The No radio button is selected by default, allowing site participants to post messages about your forum topic.

Step 17: To moderate forum postings, under Topic Posting click Yes radio button next to Moderate Topic. The No radio button is selected by default, allowing site participants messages to post automatically.

Step 18: Under Permissions, you can modify permission levels for participant roles. From the list under permissions select a role for editing by clicking its name. Next to Permission Level, use the drop-down list to select from several predefined permission levels. Additionally, you can create custom permission levels by clicking to enable or disable the functions that follow.

Step 19: Next to Gradebook Item, use the drop-down list to choose the gradebook item with which the topic should be associated. You may grade postings on the topic or forum level.

NOTE: The Gradebook item MUST already be created in the gradebook for this option to be available. To add an item to the Gradebook, refer to the Gradebook documentation.

Step 20: To save the topic, click Save Settings. To save the topic and add another topic, click Save Settings & Add Topic. Click Save Draft to save your forum as a draft or click Cancel to exit and return to the Discussion screen. Discussion saved as a draft will not be available to site participants.