Discussion Terms

Forums: Organize your discussion topics into categories. For example, enter Unit 1 for the title. There’s a checkbox to allow you to create a new topic in the forum with the same title.  This is a quick way to create the discussion board.  Edit topic to change the topic title.  Note:  Students cannot post directly in a forum.

Topics: Discussions in a forum. For example, under Unit 1, you can have a Topic called Reading 1 and another Topic called Reading 2.  Topics and can be set up as private or public.

Thread: Refers to a row of posts or comments under a Topic. Students click on New Thread when posting a response to your discussion prompt under the discussion topic.  

Discussion List: Provides the options to add Forums and Topics. You can also view a list of all the existing Forums and Topics.  This opens by default when the user selects Discussions under the Communication navbar.

Subscriptions: Decide how you will receive notifications about activity in Forums and Topics. If you subscribe to a forum, you will see an alert show up in the minibar. 

Group and Section Restrictions: View and edit all the restrictions to Forums and Topics for specific groups.  It is recommended to create the group first and then associate the group to the discussion board under the Edit Topic Properties tab.

Statistics: Allows you to view and export students’ activity in discussion threads to a CSV file. You can view user statistics by individual or by groups and filter by users or topics.  The topic statistics include total threads, total replies, pinned threads and unapproved posts.  Forum statistics include total threads (all forums), total replies (all forums), pinned threads and unapproved posts.