Discussion Board

From USF Information Technology

Contents 1 Overview 2 Selecting a Discussion Board 3 Creating a Forum 3.1 The Add Forum Screen 3.2 Forum Settings 4 Browsing the Discussion Board 4.1 Searching 4.2 Sorting 4.3 Display Options 5 Managing a Forum 5.1 Grade 5.2 Modify 5.3 Manage (Forum Users) 5.3.1 User Role Descriptions 5.4 Remove 5.5 Copy 6 Posting New Threads 7 Management Tools 7.1 Tools 7.2 Types of Status Change 7.3 Display Option in Threads 8 Posting Replies 9 Moderating Forums

[edit] Overview

A discussion board is an area containing forums. Forums allow users to post and reply to posts regarding topics relative to the course. When you first get your course shell it does not contain any forums. If you want your students to use this feature you will need to create a forum.

[edit] Selecting a Discussion Board

When you access Discussion Board from your course Control Panel, it will give you a list of available discussion boards. Your course discussion board will have a title similar to the name of your course. If you have created any group discussion boards they will be listed on this page.

[edit] Creating a Forum

When you first access your course discussion board there are no forums listed, so it is necessary to create new forums for students to post their topics in. To create a forum click the button located in the upper left-hand side of the screen. This will take you to the Add Forum screen.

[edit] The Add Forum Screen

This section lets you give a title and description for the forum.

You can enter information in the description box in the form of Smart Text, plain text or HTML. Unless you have set your User Preferences to enable the Visual Text Box, the field will default to Smart Text. To use the Visual Text Box Editor you will also need to have Java installed http://www.sun.com.

These chooses are located directly under the discription box. Smart Text is a useful format for converting web addresses into active links. For example if you type http://www.usf.edu into the text box, it will convert it to a click able link. If you do not want web addresses to be converted to links, use the Plain Text option. Use the HTML option if you prefer to use HTML markup. To change this option click the circle button located to the left of the mode you would like to use.

You can copy and paste information from a text editor or word processor in the text box. However, you will lose the formatting of the original document. If you want to copy a webpage, we recommend you set the text option to HTML, then copy and paste the HTML source into the text box. To insert a mathematical equation, use the button. This will open a web-based math editor. To reuse an equation click the button. To activate the spell checker click the button.

[edit] Forum Settings

The Forum Settings allows you to set posting permissions for the forum. To clicking the box to the right of an option you enable that feature to users.

• Anonymous posting – Allows students to post anonymously, you can enable this option if you want to keep the name of the poster anonymous.

• Allow author to remove own posts – This option allows a person to remove any posts they have made. There are two options available to limit deletion.
  • All post - this allows a user to delete any of there own post. If their post was the first post of a thread, all subsequent replies to that post will also be deleted.
  • Only post with no replies - this allows a user to delete their own post only if there are no replies posted.

• Allow author to modify own published posts – This option allows a person to edit any previous posts they have made. This option is OFF by default.

• Allow file attachments – This option will enable students to attach documents to forum posts.

• Allow members to create new threads – This option will allow students to create new messages (threads). If you turn this option off, students can only reply to threads which exist.

• Allow members to subscribe to threads - This allows a user to subscribe to a thread. When new replies occur on a subscribed thread the user will get a notification.

• Allow members to rate posts - This gives users, such as other students, to rate each others posts and replies on a scale of 1-5 stars.

• Grade - You can choose to grade by either forum or thread. By default no grading is selected. Grade forum allows you to grade a students performance overall, while grade thread allows you to grade each thread separately. If you choose the grade thread option students will be unable to create new threads. For more information please see Managing a Forum: Grade below.

After configuring the forum's settings, press the button on the bottom right corner of the page to create the forum.

[edit] Browsing the Discussion Board

[edit] Searching

Searching allows you look for keywords or dates within a post.

• Keyword - To search for a keyword, such as a persons name or topic, type the word into the search box.
• Date Range- To search for a specific date or a range of dates use the 'Before' and 'After'

You can choose to use these two options separately or in any combination.

You can also limit the search to the current forum, current discussion board, or all forums in course by using the drop down options.

• Current Forum - searches within the current forum only
• Current Discussion Board - searches all discussions in the current forum only
• All Forums in Course - searches all forums for the course

Once you have selected how and what you want to search for click the button. This takes you to the results screen, which shows all threads that matched your search.

[edit] Sorting

By clicking the drop down menu on the upper right hand corner you can choose to sort by author, date, subject, or thread. Note that sorting by author will sort by First Name. Once you have chosen how you would like to sort these results hit the button again.

[edit] Display Options

For information regarding display option's see Managment Tools - Status Change below.

[edit] Managing a Forum

For each forum that is listed in your discussion board there are a variety of ways to manage content.

[edit] Grade

Grading allows you to assign grades to users in the discussion boards. This feature will also automatically set up a corresponding column in the gradebook. There are two ways to grade your discussion boards.

• Grade Forum - allows you to grade a users overall performance within a forum, users can also create new threads if you have enabled this feature
• Grade Thread - allows you to grade a user in each thread. Users can NOT create new threads if this option selected but can reply to threads that you have created.

If grading is selected the button will appear in the grade column. If you choose to grade threads then this will appear in the forum's grade column instead of the discussion boards.

To grade a forum or thread click the button in the grade column. This will take you to the Grade Forum/Thread Users Screen. This screen gives you information on the number of post each user has within the forum or thread and the grade given so far.

From here select which user you would like to grade by clicking the . The next screen to load offers a few options for grading.

This screen shows you the total number of points possible and allows you to enter the points awarded into the grade box. To submit the grade click the button. You can also clear a previously recorded grade or print this screen. When done hit the button. Repeat this for any users needing grades.

[edit] Modify

By clicking the button you can change the information and settings of a forum. See "Forum Settings" above for more information on setting up and modifying a forum.

[edit] Manage (Forum Users)

Click on button to manage user permissions for each forum. This takes you to a list of all your discussion board users. On the right hand side there are drop down menus for each user.

To change a user’s role in the forums click the drop down menu and select which role type you would like the user to be. After changing roles make sure to hit the button. This will store any changed roles.

[edit] User Role Descriptions

User roles allow you to change a person’s access to and privileges within the forums. There are six different roles you can assign.

• Blocked - Designating someone's role as blocked will ban them from viewing or posting entries in a forum.
• Reader - This is a good role if you have people, such as administers, who you would like to allow to read but not post to the threads.
• Participant - This is the default role for all students who are enrolled in the course. It allows for the person to create and modify drafts and posts. Participants can also delete their own post and rate the post of other.
• Grader - This role has the same functions as the participant plus they also have the ability to grade forums and threads.
• Moderator - Moderators have functions like that of a grader but can also approve or disapprove content of posts, change roles, and stop participation in threads by locking them.
• Manager - As a manager you all of the functions of the other roles, this is the default role for Instructors.

[edit] Remove

Remove allows you to delete a forum. Remember that deleting a forum will also delete ALL of the threads with in it. To remove a forum simply click the button. A window will pop up verifying that you would like to delete the forum. Click OK to continue with the delete. If you do not want to delete the forum click cancel.

[edit] Copy

Copying a forum allows you to create a duplicate in another discussion within the course. Clicking the button take you to the Copy Forum screen.

After entering a name for the new forum you have two chooses on what to copy.

• Entire forum - copies settings and content
• Forum settings only - copies the settings but not the content

To select which option you would like to use click the button to the left. The Location field allows you to decide where you would like the copied material to go to. If you have more then one discussion board these will be listed as well. Once you have selected where you would like to copy to click the button to confirm the copy. If you Change your mind about copying the forum you can also choose the button.

[edit] Posting New Threads

Click on the button to go to the thread creation page.

First title the thread in the subject line. Then add your message in the message window. You can use HTML or the visual text box editor when adding your message. If the option is allowed you may also choose to post this anonymously by checking the small box below the message window.

The second section of the add thread page allows you to attach a file or link to part of your content collection.

• Attach Local File - to attach a file from your computer choose browse. When you find the file you would like to attach click open.

• Link to Content Collection - if you have material in the Content Collection you can link to it through this option. To link to Content Collection click browse and it will bring up your content collection in a new window. You can search through your collection to locate the file or folder you would like to link to. Once you locate the file click the circle that corresponds with your choice click the .

In the last section you have three options.

The save option allows you to save a draft of your post. The submit option will post your message as a new thread. Lastly if for some reason you would like to quit working on but not save your thread choose the cancel option.

[edit] Management Tools

There are a few ways for you to manage you forums.

To use these tools check the box beside the threads you would like to affect.

[edit] Tools

• Add Thread - creates new threads within a forum.
• Remove – this allows you to delete a thread.
• Collect – collecting allows you to view one or more threads at a time. Once you have collected threads you can resort or print the threads.
• Lock/Unlock - locking the thread does not allow for edits on the thread while unlock will reopen a locked thread so that it can be edited.
• Status changes - By changing the status of a thread you can alter the ability to view a thread.

[edit] Types of Status Change

-Published threads are available to users
-Hidden threads won’t display unless you choose to see them. These threads may not be modified. This option can allow you to filter out threads that are out of date or do not relate.
-Unavailable threads are only available to forum managers. These are not viewable by other users.

[edit] Display Option in Threads

Within a thread you may switch the positions of the 'Subject' and 'Thread' boxes by selecting the button in the upper right hand corner of the 'Thread' box.

[edit] Posting Replies

Replying to a thread is almost the same as creating the threads. To reply to a thread click the button in the message window. This takes you to a reply screen. Click on the button to go to the thread creation page.

First title the thread in the subject line. Then add your message in the message window. You can use HTML or the visual text box editor when adding your message. If the option is allowed you may also choose to post this anonymously by checking the small box below the message window.

Section 2 gives you three options regarding finishing your reply.

The save option allows you to save a draft of your post. The submit option will post your message as a new thread. Lastly if for some reason you would like to quit working on but not post your thread choose the cancel option.

[edit] Moderating Forums

Moderators in forums are responsible for reviewing posts to make sure they contain the correct and appropriate content.

To moderate a forum first click the button. This button is only available for moderators and managers. The moderation queue is the next screen. This screen allows you to see any threads that need to be moderated.

After deciding which post to moderate click the button. This takes you to the moderate post screen.

Here you can review the post. After reviewing the post you can select to publish or return the message. Publish allows the post to continue onto the forum while return sends it back to the original writer.

If you return the post you can add a message regarding why you returned it in the message box. When your done select either the or the buttons to finish.