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Discussion Board
More Information
The Discussion Board is a communication tool that can be used to enhance a course Web site. Conversations are grouped into Forums. Each Forum is grouped into threads that contain a main posting and all related replies. The Discussion Board Forum page is the first page accessed when the Discussion Board link is clicked from the Control Panel.

Add a Forum

  1. From the Control Panel, click on Discussion Boards link in the Course Tools section.
  2. Click on Add Forum button.
  3. Fill in the Title and Description fields.
  4. Check or uncheck the desired Forum Settings.
  5. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click the Submit button.

Remove a Forum

  1. Click the Discussion Board button or the Discussion Board link in the Communications section.
  2. Click on the name of the Forum.
  3. Click Remove.
  4. A message box will appear "Removing this forum will destroy all its threads and archives. Continue?".

Create a New Thread

  1. Click the Discussion Board button or the Discussion Boards link in the Communications section.
  2. Click on the Add New Thread button.
  3. Fill in the Subject and Description fields.
  4. Check Post message as anonymous and/or Browse for an attachment if desired and allowed.
  5. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click the Submit button.

Read/Respond to a Thread

  1. Click on the Discussion Board button, or the Discussion Boards link in the Communications section.
  2. Click on the name of the Forum.
  3. Click on the name of the thread or comment to read.
    4. Note: Clicking on the users name will open an email to that person.
  4. Click on the Reply button.
  5. Change the Subject if desired.
  6. Fill in the Message field.
  7. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click the Submit button.

Viewing Options

Blackboard allows you to view multiple messages on one screen. This is helpful when viewing a very active list, or copying and pasting messages into Word,
  1. Click on the gray Show Options tab on the right side of the screen (just above the time/date stamps).
  2. Click the Select All button
  3. Click the Collect button
  4. Scroll down the page to read all the messages.

More Information

Question: Why would I archive a forum?
Answer:    You may want to take a copy at a particular deadline time and grade the threads later.

Question: How do I add a file to my Discussion Thread?
Answer  : In the Reply area, there is an Option to Browse for an Attachment. Click on the Browse button and select your file.

Note: All files should have a three letter file extension (such as .doc or .htm), which designates its file type. To prevent conflicts, file names should contain no spaces or special characters except the underscore (_) and only one period before the file extension (ex: HomeWorkOne.doc).

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