CE 6 Resources
Educational Technology Services

Discussions Tool

Description:
  • In Blackboard, the Discussion Tools is an electronic area in where the users are able to post, read and search for information within discussions.
  • The Discussions tool is an asynchronous communication tool.
  • Discussion messages can be organized into categories and topics.
  • There are three types of discussion topics:
    • Threaded Discussions
    • Class Blogs
    • Journals
  • New features:
    • Discussions can be gradable (automatically recorded in Grade Book).
    • Discussions can be associated a grading form with a topic.
    • enable peer review
    • Students can edit their messages after posting.
Who can do what?
  • Designers can create and edit discussion forums.
  • Instructors can create, edit and grade discussions.
  • Students can access discussions.
Tip:
  • If you read discussion forum messages from the tool categories and/or , your messages will be compiled in a single document. If you close this document before finishing reading all new messages, you will lose count of the remaining new messages since the tool treats all messages in the compiled document as one file and 'understands' that all messages have been read (show me)
  • There are three types of discussion topics: threaded, class blog, and journal. By default, blog and journal topics and peer review functionality are disabled. To change discussion settings:

    Under Instructor Tools-->click Manage Course-->Click Settings-->Under the Tools column, click Discussions--->Set the values to 'true' for the settings-->Click Save Values.
  • If you make a topic gradable, you cannot revert back to non-gradable
How To's:
Demo:

Show me how to...?

How to Create a Discussion Forum
  1. You need to add the Discussion Tool in the course menu. To add the Chat Tool, click on the Build Tab --> Designer Tools --> Manage Course --> Tools: check mark Discussions and click 'Save.'
     
  2. Click on the Discussion Tool.
     
  3. Click Create Topic. Select the topic type and click Next.
     
  4. Enter a title and description.
     
  5. Next to Item Visibility, select whether to show or hide the item for students.
     
  6. Use the Select Category drop-down list if you want to add the topic to a new or existing category
     
  7. Under Grading:
    If you want Students to receive a grade based on their participation in the topic, select a grading scheme.
    1. If you want the Grade Book column for this topic to have a name other than the topic title, enter the name in the Grade Book column title text box.
    2. If you want Students to see their grades for this topic, select Release grade to Students in My Grades.
    3. To grade the topic using a numeric grade, select it and then enter the maximum value.
    4. To grade the topic using a grading form, select it and then click here to select the grading form.
    5. If you want to allow peer review using a grading form, select Allow Students to review messages using a grading form and then select the
      grading form.
       
  8. Under Goals, You may want to associate a goal with this topic. Remember that Goals must be already entered to be associated with the forum.
     
  9. Next to Peer Review, click the Expand/Collapse icon to set peer review preferences:
  1. Allow Students to review messages using a simple rating scale and then click Create Scale to set up the rating scale.

  1. Next to Topic Behavior Options, click the Expand/Collapse icon and set the
    following student posting rules for the topic:
    Note: These options do not apply to journal topics.
    1. To allow Students to contribute to a topic, select one of the following:
    2. Students can post (new threads) messages and reply to messages.
    3. Students can post  (new threads) messages but cannot reply to messages.
    4. Students can reply to messages but cannot post messages.
    5. To allow Students to edit their messages, select Students can edit their messages after posting them.
    6. To allow Students to read messages but prevent them from contributing to a topic, select Lock this topic for Students. Section Instructors and
      Teaching Assistants can post messages to a locked topic.
       
  2. Under Author Identification, specify whether Students' names should display with their messages
    If you are creating a journal topic, under Journal Privacy, specify whether Students' journals are public or private. If a journal is private, only the Student and Section Instructor can access the journal.
     
  3. Click Save.

 

How to Manage the Discussion Board
  1. Reordering Categories
    You may want to reorder categories so that the most current and relevant categories appear at the top of the Discussions screen.
    1. Click Reorder Categories.
    2. Select the category you want to move. You can select multiple categories.
    3. In the row just below where you want the
      category to appear, click the Move Selected
      Items Above icon or the Move Selected Items
      to Bottom of List icon.
    4. Click OK.

 

  1. Copying and Moving Topics
  1. Select the check box next to the topic you want to copy or move.
  2. Click the Move icon adjacent to where you want to move or copy the topic. A menu appears.
  3. Select whether you want to move or copy the topic above or below.
  1. Moving and Copying Messages to Other Topics
     
    1. You can move or copy messages from one topic to another, either in the same category or a different category, as long as they are the same type of topic.
       
      • to move or copy a message and its comments, select the message.
      • to move or copy a thread, select the first message in the thread.
      • to move or copy a reply to a thread, select the message.
      • to move or copy all messages on the page, select the check box in the table heading row or click Select All.
      • to move or copy selected messages that appear on different pages, click the Paging Preferences icon and change the number of records per page to display all the messages.
         
    2. From the Move to or Copy to drop-down list, select the topic and click the Go icon.


Remember:
    • You cannot move messages from a threaded topic to a journal or blog topic.
    • Moving a message also moves all replies to that message.
    • After they are moved or copied, messages take the properties of the new topic.
       
  1. Locking Topics and Messages
    Discussions topics and messages can be locked to prevent students from posting new messages; they can still read locked topics and messages but can no longer post new messages.
    1. From the Discussions screen, locate the topic you want to lock and, from its ActionLinks menu, click Edit Properties
    2. Under Topic Behavior Options, select Lock this topic for students.
    3. Click Save.

 

How to Grade a Discussion Forum
  1. From the Discussions screen, locate the topic you want to grade, and click its ActionLinks icon and click Grade Topic.
     
  2. The Grade Discussions screen appears and each student who has posted a message to the topic is displayed along with a Discussion Activity Overview, class averages, and the grading area.
     
  3. To view a student’s posts, click the student’s name and, from the ActionLinks menu, click View Student Posts.
    The Student Posts screen displays the messages posted
    by the student to the topic, along with the total number of
    messages posted, replied to, and read. And, if enabled in
    the topic, you also see peer review summary information.
     
  4. Enter grades in the Grade text box. If a grading form is used, click Complete Grading Form, make your selections for each criterion and click Save.
     
  5. Click Save Grades.

**If you want to keep a record of the student’s messages, or read them offline, click Print or Save as File.