In an online class, Discussion Forums often take the place of in-class conversations in traditional face-to-face classes.

Finding Discussions

Course Navigation: Click on Discussions in the Course Navigation sidebar. You will see your discussions listed by date.

The Discussions page with an arrow showing its location in the Navigation bar.

Modules: If your instructor is using Modules, you will see discussions listed within each Module

The discussion icon which is a dark grey rectangular message bubble

Participating in Discussions

Read an Existing Discussion: Select one of the Discussion Topics from one of the above methods for Finding Discussions. This will expand the topic fully.

Create a New Discussion: If your instructor allows it, you will have the ability to create new discussion topics. Click on Discussions, enter your topic and text, and save.

The new discussion button which is read as "+ Discussion". It is located at the top of the Discussions page on the upper-right, to the left of the settings icon.

The following screen displays after clicking on Discussions...

The page you will see when you create a new discussion.

Reply to an Existing Discussion: If your instructor asks you to reply to a discussion, click on the title of the discussion. You will see a reply option below the main body of the discussion topic. Once you create your reply, select Post Response.

A sample discussion page. The reply button is located at the bottom of the discussion description below the discussion buttons.

announcement reply2.png

Important things to remember about Discussions

Very often these are graded assignments. Instructors are typically looking for critical thinking and college-level writing. Good netiquette is expected. Always check your work for spelling and grammar errors before posting.
Often discussion posts can be fairly lengthy. It is always a good idea before posting your response to copy what you have typed from the discussion into a word processor and save that file for your own records as backup. You don't want to lose a post that you spent an hour on because of a technical error.

Other Frequently Asked Questions regarding Discussions: