Lesson 2: Posting and Replying in Discussions

Attention

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this lesson's material, students will be able to:

• post and reply to messages in the Online discussions section of Blackboard

Teaching

Discussions

Discussions (sometimes called Forums) are made up of different "boards" where individuals can post messages to each other. This is a great way to leave messages for you peers or to ask general questions to the entire class.

Be mindful that whatever you post on the Discussion Boards is viewable by EVERYONE in the class...so show good judgment, this is NOT Facebook!

How do we use Discussions

Discussions can be used in many ways. They can be used as a place for students to "socialize" Online and talk about off-subject topics. They can also be open discussions to problem solve about issues and ideas.

Mostly Discussions are used in Online classes as an integral part of the course. Discussions do a number of things in an Online class:

• Create a sense of community and connection among the members of an Online class who many never meet.
• Provides a forum for sharing ideas and solving problems as a group
• In the case of GRADED Discussions, Faculty can use Discussions to meet learning outcomes in the course. For example: A Discussion could be used to get the class to process different ways to solve a problem and share/critique each others' ideas.

Posting and Replying in Discussions

In any given discussion you have the option to post a new "thread" or to simply reply to another persons' post. (In many Online classes there is a minimum number of times you have to reply to another persons' post in order to get full credit.)

Here is a short movie showing you how to post a new thread and how to reply to an existing post. - There is no audio in these videos.

Assessment

Your Faculty may decide to assign tasks in their class to help you demonstrate these skills. Check with your instructor.