Discussions

The following video provides a step-by-step guide for how to create a discussion forum:

• Use forums to organize your discussion topics into categories.
• Forums need a discussion topic so that students can post.
• A course can have multiple forums.

1. On the navbar, select Discussions under the Communications tab.
2. On the Discussions List page, from the New button, click New Forum.
3. Enter a title for your new forum.
4. Optional: Check the box to Create a new topic in this forum with the same title.
   Selecting this option will automatically create a new topic with the same title as the new forum that is created.
5. Enter a description for your new forum.
6. Within the Options Area, you can
   • Control whether course participants can post anonymous messages. Note: Allowing students to make anonymous posts will restrict other students from viewing the author of this post. All Instructor roles have the ability to show the author of the post. 
   • Choose whether a member of the instructional team must approve all messages before they are posted to the Discussion
   • Select whether course participants are required to make an original post before they can read and reply to other posts
   • Select if you want to display the forum's description in addition to the topic description, when viewing the topic.
      
7. Select Restrictions tab to set Availability options for your forum. This determines when the Forum is visible to students. Forums are set to Visible with access restricted by default.
8. Click the Save and Close button.

IMPORTANT: If you did NOT select Create a new topic in this forum with the same title you must now Create a Discussion Topic (see below).

The following video provides step-by-step instructions for how to create a discussion topic for your course:

Note: You must create a forum before you can create a topic since all topics belong to forums.

1. On the navbar, select Discussions under the Communications tab.
2. On the Discussions List page, from the New button, click New Topic.
3. From the drop-down list, select the Forum you want to place your topic in. If you want to create a new forum for your topic, click New Forum.
4. Select Open Topic, in which everyone can access this topic, and its contents.
5. Enter a Title for the Topic. 
6. Within the Options Area, you can:
   • ​Control whether course participants can post anonymous messages. Note: Allowing students to make anonymous posts will restrict other students from viewing the author of this post. All Instructor roles have the ability to show the author of the post. 
   • Choose whether a member of the instructional team must approve all messages before they are posted to the Discussion
   • Select whether course participants are required to make an original post before they can read and reply to other posts
   • Select if you want to display the forum's description in addition to the topic description when viewing the topic.
      
7. Select Availability options for your topic. This determines when the Topic is visible to students. 
8. Select Locking Options for your topic. Locking your topic prevents students from accessing it until it is unlocked.
9. Click Save and Close.

The following video provides step-by-step instructions for how to create discussions through the Groups Tool:

Created through the Groups Tool

Note:  The recommended method is to create the restricted Discussion topics through the Groups tool.
Groups are contained in Categories. You must create a Category to create groups.

1. On the navbar, select Groups from the Communications tab.
2. Select the blue New Category button. You will be redirected to the New Category Page.
3. Enter the Category Name and Description.
4. Set the desired Enrollment Type.
5. Enter the Number of Groups or the Number of Users depending on the Enrollment Type.
6. Enter a Group Prefix if required.
7. Under Additional Options check the Set up discussion areas box.
8. Select the Save button to create groups.

You will now be taken to the Create Restricted Discussion Areas page.

9. Under Forum select (New Forum).
10. Choose either:

    • Create one topic per group

      Instructors must manage each topic individually. Students only see the topic assigned to their group.
      Each topic must have its own grade item

    • Create one topic with threads separated by group (Recommended)

      Instructors can manage all activities and assessments from one topic. Students only see threads from their own group.
      One grade item for the discussion topic used to mark all group threads
       

11. Under Title give the topic(s) a name.
12. Add a Description if required.
13. Click the Create and Next button.
14. ​​The Workspace Summary will now appear and confirm the number of groups and discussion topics created.

The following video provides step-by-step instructions for how to grade a discussion topic:

Note: When assessing a Group and Section Topic, only one Grade Item needs to be associated with the Topic. 

1. On the navbar, select Discussions under the Communications tab.
2. From the drop-down menu of the topic you want to assess, click Edit Topic.
3. Select the Assessment tab. 
4. Use the Grade Item drop-down list to attach an existing numeric grade item or click the New Grade Item link to create a new numeric grade item.
   Note that you can only associate numeric grade items with discussion topics. 
5. Give the Topic an Out of Score.
6. If you wish to use a Rubric to assess the Topics, you can click Add Rubric to add an existing Rubric, or click Create Rubric in a new window. 
7. If you want to score individual posts, select Allow assessment of individual posts, and then select your Calculation Method.
8. Click Save and Close

Calculation Methods:

• Sum of Post Scores sums up all the scores on posts within a topic. 
• Average Post Score averages all of the post scores included per user.
• Maximum Post Score identifies the highest scores of all the post scores included per user.
• Minimum Post Score identifies the lowest score of all the post scores included per user.
• Mode post score - Highest on Multiple looks at the frequency of scores on posts, then selects the highest occurrence of a score per user. Once it picks the frequency, onQ looks to see if multiple scores occur at that frequency. If not, it assigns that score to the user. If there are multiple scores with the same frequency, it will choose the highest of those scores.
• Mode post score - Lowest on multiple looks at the frequency of scores on posts, then selects the highest occurrence of a score per user. Once it picks the frequency, onQ looks to see if multiple scores occur at that frequency. If not, it assigns that score to the user. If there are multiple scores with the same frequency, it will choose the lowest of those scores.

The following video provides step-by-step instructions for how to add a rubric to a discussion topic:

Note: To attach a rubric to a discussion topic, you must first create a rubric and set its Status to Published.

1. On the navbar, select Discussions under the Communications tab.
2. Click The Edit Topic from the context menu of the discussion topic you want to attach a rubric to.
3. In the Assessments tab, click Add Rubric.
4. Select the check box for the rubric you want to attach to the discussion topic.
5. Click Add Selected.
6. Click Save and Close.

For more information on creating Rubrics please visit the Rubrics page.

Note: Hidden topics do not display on the Discussions List page, except to users with permission to see hidden forums and topics or to manage discussions. By hiding topics, you can control which topics students can access at different times throughout the course. 

1. On the navbar, select Discussions under the Communications tab.
2. From the drop-down menu of the forum or topic you want to hide, click Edit.
3. In the Availability section, you can select your Visibility Options. This includes the ability to set Start and Ends dates, so you can set up visibility ahead of time according to your course schedule. 

Note: Locking a topic prevents Students from creating new posts or modifying existing posts, making the existing conversation read only. Only users with permission can modify the contents of a locked topic. Locking a topic is an effective way of closing a conversation while allowing users to refer back to posts. 

To Lock a Forum or Topic:

1. On the navbar, select Discussions under the Communications tab.
2. From the drop-down menu of the forum or topic you want to lock, click Edit.
3. Select your Locking Options. This includes the ability to set Start and End dates, so you can set up visibility ahead of time according to your course schedule. 
4. Click Save

Note: You must manually approve posts and threads in topics that require approval. Once you approve a post or thread, it is visible to all users. To hide the post or thread, you must unapprove it.

1. On the navbar, select Discussions under the Communications tab.
2. From the drop-down menu of the forum or topic you want to moderate, click Edit.
3. Under the Options are, select 'A moderator must approve individual posts before they display in the Topic'. 
4. Once this option has been selected, from the drop-down menu of a thread, or an individual post, you may:

• Approve All Replies in Thread.
• Unapprove Thread.
• Approve Post.
• Unapprove Post. 

Note: When reordering Forums, the topics within the forum will remain within their assigned Forum. 

1. On the navbar, select Discussions under the Communications tab.
2. Click the More Actions button at the top of the Discussions List, then select Reorder. 
3. Use the drop-down menu's under the Sort Order column to select the numbers that reflect the order in which you would like the Forums to appear.
4. Use the drop-down menu's under the Sort Order column to select the numbers that reflect the order in which you would like the Topics to appear in. 
5. When you're finished re-ordering Forums and Topics click the Save button to return to the Discussions page.

Note: Forums & Topics that have been deleted can be restored. See 'Restoring Forums & Topics' for more information. 

1. On the navbar, select Discussions under the Communications tab.
2. Click the More Actions button at the top of the Discussions List, then select Delete.
3. To delete all forums and topics, click the Select All check box.
4. To delete a specific forum and the topics within, click on the checkbox to the left of the forum you wish to delete.
5. To delete a specific topic within a forum, click on the checkbox to the left of the topic you wish to delete.
6. Click the Delete Button to confirm your selections. 

Note: If the restored Discussion Topic(s) were previously connected to the Grade Book you will need to reconnect them as restoring a Discussion Topic does not restore the connection to the Grade Book.

1. On the navbar, select Discussions under the Communications tab.
2. Click the More Actions button at the top of the Discussions List, then select Restore. 
3. Click the Restore button located to the right of the Forum or Topic you would like to restore.
4. The following window will ask your confirmation to restore the item(s) you selected.

1. On the navbar, select Discussions under the Communications tab.
2. Click the drop down menu next to the Forum or Topic you wish to edit. Select Edit. 
3. When you have finished editing your topic, click the Save and Close button to return to the Discussions page.

The following video provides step-by-step instructions for how to grade a discussion topic:

Grade a Discussion Topic

Note: Once you have assessed all the students, you must publish the grades. This will send the grades to the gradebook and send a notification to the students saying they have received the grade.

1. On the navbar, select Discussions under the Communications tab.
2. Click on the drop-down arrow next to the topic name and select Assess Topic.
3. Click on Topic Score under the name of the student whose posts you want to assess. A pop-up window will open; if you scroll to the bottom of it, you will be able to view all of the posts the student has made.
4. Enter the score for the topic in the upper right corner. You can also provide general feedback.
5. Click Save and Close to confirm changes.

Publish Grades

1. To publish all student grades to the Grade Book, click on Publish All Scores to Grades at the top of the Assess Topic page.
2. To publish the scores of just one or a few students, select the checkboxes in this Publish to Grades column next to their names before clicking the Save button.
3. Click Yes to confirm the publish. You will notice that the checkboxes beside the student's names have been checked, this means the grades/feedback have been published.
4. Click Save and Close to exit the assessment page.

The following video provides step-by-step instructions for how to assess a discussion thread:

• You can assess students' participation in discussion topics from within threads for topics to which you've added an assessment.
• If your topic is moderated, you must approve posts before you can assess them.
• To assess individual posts, you must edit the topic to enable the Allow assessment of individual posts check box in the Assessment tab.

1. On the navbar, select Discussions under the Communications tab.
2. On the Discussions List page, click the topic you want to assess.
3. Depending on your view settings, do one of the following:
   • In Reading view, instructors can assess an individual learner while viewing all of a learner's posts together on one screen. Click the context menu beside a thread name and select Assess Student.
   • In Grid view, instructors can select either the thread or reply for a post. Click the More Actions button and then select Assess to assess the individual learner.
      
4. In the popup dialog box, do any of the following:
   • If assessment of individual posts is enabled and you are in Reading View, enter a score in the Score column beside each post you want to assess. If assessment of individual posts is enabled and you are in Grid View, add the assessment in the Post Score field.
   • If assessment of individual posts is not enabled, enter a score in the Topic Score field. This score is the assessment you are providing to the learner for participation in the topic.
   • Complete each rubric, choosing a level and entering feedback for each criterion or choose an overall score. Note that the calculated or chosen Overall Score (if there is one) is automatically populated in the Topic Score field. To return the Topic Score to the calculated score from the rubric, click Clear Override.
   • In the General Feedback field, enter feedback comments.
   • Select the Publish score on save check box. This check box is only available when the topic is associated with a grade item. When you select this check box, the Topic Score or calculated topic score and comments from the General Feedback field are sent to Grades. When this check box is not selected, the learner's score and feedback are cleared from Grades.
      
5. Click Save and Close.

Note: The Grade Item score will no longer update with the grades from the topic if the association is removed.

1. On the navbar, select Discussions under the Communications tab. All the discussion topics are listed in each forum.
2. Beside the discussion topic title, select the drop-down arrow and choose the Edit Topic option.
3. You will be redirected to the Edit Topic page. Select the Assessment tab.
4. Click the drop-down menu under Grade Item and select -- Choose a Grade Item --  to remove the association.
5. Select Save and Close to confirm changes.

1. On the navbar, select Discussions under the Communications tab
2. To view statistics for a specific forum or topic, from the drop-down menu of the forum or topic you want to view, click View Forum/Topic Statistics.