Discussions - Creating a discussion

Overview

Discussions are a valuable tool in online learning, fostering interaction, building community, and enhancing critical thinking. They offer a space for students to engage with course content, interact with peers and instructors, and develop communication and problem-solving skills. In Brightspace, there are two parts to a discussion - the forum and the topic. Discussion forums organize course discussions topics into categories such as weekly discussions, open discussions, and group discussions.

Tips

  • Helpful analogy
    • A Forum can be compared to a file folder.
    • The Topic is the contents of the file folder, which contains the discussion posts/replies
  • Forums can hold several Topics. Here is are two examples:
    • Forum: Module 1
      • Topic: Chapter 1 Discussion
      • Topic: Chapter 2 Discussion
      • Topic: Chapter 3 Discussion
    • Forum: Chapter Discussions
      • Topic: Chapter 1 Discussion
      • Topic: Chapter 2 Discussion
      • Topic: Chapter 3 Discussion
  • Create all of your Discussions within the Brightspace Discussion tool, then place a link to it in the content section
  • If the Forum is hidden, the Topics associated with the Forum will also be hidden.

Instructions

  1. Click on Course Tools, then select Discussions.
    Course tools menu with Discussions highlighted
  2. Click on New > New Forum
    New menu with New Forum highlighted
    1. Enter the Forum Title
    2. Description - this can be skipped
    3. Select Options
      • Allow anonymous posts: Enabled users to post anonymously. not recommended
        • Not recommended
      • Users must start a thread before they can read and reply to others in each topic
        • Post first
      • A moderator must approve individual posts before they display. 
        • Limited use case - ask for guidance
    4. Click Save and Add Topic
      New Forum Details completed page with Users must start a thread before they can see others' posted select and Save and Add topic highlighted
  3. On the New Topic page,
    1. Enter the Topic Title
    2. If graded, enter the number of points
    3. In the Description editor, enter the discussion instructions and question.
      New Topic page image with title, grade point value, discussion question completed and Save and Closed highlighted
  4. Place a link to the discussion in the appropriate module on the Content tab.

Need Help?

Need additional information or assistance? Contact CTS.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. State University of New York at Oswego Division of Extended Learning and Campus Technology Services

 

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