Documentation:Faculty of Arts/Online Teaching Resources/Discussion

Using the Discussion Tool

How can I use this tool?

Faculty use the discussion tool for a variety of classroom purposes:

• Have students introduce themselves to you and the class during the first week.

• Use the discussion tool for students to turn in assignments you want the whole class to be able to see and evaluate.
• Post a weekly discussion question. Topics that are controversial, ask for personal experiences, or are open ended get the best responses.
• Use the discussion tool as a question and answer board for answering student's course questions. Many times students will answer each other's questions before you do.

Considerations

• If you cannot see all posts for a particular thread be sure you have clicked on the "expand" button (+ sign) to view all posts.
• Discussions are not private, they are seen by all members of the class. Any private student information should not be posted using this tool. Use the mail tool to communicate privately.
• If all posts for a discussion topic are not viewable on the screen, be sure to check the "paging preferences" button at the bottom of the screen.

Step-by-Step

Print PDF Instructions

View Flash Video (Courtesy of Utah State University)

The PDF and Flash Video will demonstrate how to do the following:

• Add the tool
• Create a topic
• Edit a topic
• Create a message
• Reply to a message
• Grade a discussion topic

Additional Flash Videos (Courtesy of Arts ISIT)

→ Removing Topics (Print PDF Instructions )

→ Moving Topics (Print PDF Instructions )

→ Editing Messages (Print PDF Instructions )

→ Removing Messages (Print PDF Instructions )