Create a Discussion Board

A Discussion Board can contain a number of forums, each based on a broad topic area. Within a forum, users can start a thread that other users can reply to. Each forum can have numerous threads and each thread may have many replies.

Students can access the Discussion Board using a link provided by the instructor, in either the navigation menu or a content area.  Some of the instructions below are also the same for students such as creating a thread, subscribing to get notification/email alerts and replying.

Creating a Discussion Board by adding a Menu item.

a. Click on the Plus Icon at the top of your Module Menu and choose 'Tool Link' 

b. Now type in the name: Discussion Board and choose the type of link Discussion board from the drop down.  Ensure to make available to Users by checking the checkbox.

c. The Discussion Board link will now be made, it will be at the bottom of the menu list, rearrange this by dragging it, hover mouse to the left-hand side of name until you see the slider bar.

d. Now to start a discussion thread, open up the link and choose 'Create Forum' with a topic.

e. Continue reading point 3, 4 and 5 for further instructions on replying to posts, subscribing to never miss a message and creating new threads (NB: Students can also create new threads).

a. Turn Edit Mode ON

b. In a Content Area, hover your mouse over Tools and click Discussion Board.

c. If you've created a Discussion Board elsewhere in the module, there's an option to link to it. If not, click Create New Forum. Then click Next

d. Give the Forum Name and a brief Description.

e. Set Forum Availability to Yes if you want students to see it, and enter any Date and Time Restrictions.

f. Use the radio buttons in the Forum Settings section to select options for your discussion board. 

• Viewing Threads/Replies: Allows you to decide how learners view threads within your discussion board.
• Mark: Allows you to enable a mark within your discussion board.
• Subscribe: Allows you to switch on subscription options within your discussion board.
• Create and Edit: Allows you to decide how learners can create posts within your discussion board. [Note, if you choose to allow anonymous posts, it is not possible to know who has posted anonymously, even for investigatory purposes].
• Additional Options: Allows you to switch on other options for your discussion board.

g. Click Submit.

h. Select a Discussion Board Forum (the one you just created) from the list and click Next.

i. Check that you're happy with the settings, and click Submit.

Threads are a way of categorising specific topics in a Discussion Board. E.g. your forum might be called 'Animals', and you may have threads called 'Mammals', 'Birds', 'Fish' etc. If you start a thread, students will post responses. Or you can give them the ability to create their own threads. 

a. Open a Discussion Board.

b. Click Create Thread

c. Enter a Subject (Title of discussion thread) and Message (Description of how to participate in the discussion).

d. You can Mark Thread if you're assessing students on their contributions - please note this option is only available if a forum has been created and the mark option has been enabled.

e. Click Submit.

f. Students are also able to create threads in your discussion forum following the same steps above a, b, c.

a. Click a Thread name in a forum to open the thread.

b. Click Reply

c. Type a message.

d. Click Submit.

a. In a module, find and click the Discussion Board and click on the name of the forum.

b. Tick the box[es] next to the discussion Thread/s you want to subscribe to. 

c. Click Subscribe.   You'll see a green notification to indicate that you have subscribed (see image below), you will receive notifications in MyBeckett's Notifications menu and an email to alert you whenever students reply to the discussion thread.  Students are also able to subscribe too.