Discussion Board Basics for Students

by | Oct 25, 2013 | Uncategorized

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Discussion boards allow students and instructors to communicate with one another asynchronously.

Instructors frequently use the Discussion Board as a communication tool for courses. Each main posting in the Discussion Board is called a “forum”. Related replies are called “threads”. Depending on how your instructor chooses to set up the discussions, students might be able to start new threads and reply to existing threads in a forum.

Contents

View a Thread

  1. Click on the Discussion Board link (name might vary from course to course) in the left navigation of your course or in the content area to open the list of forums.Discussion Board link in left menu or content area
  2. Select the link for the forum you would like to view.Discussion board forums
  3. Click the thread you want to view. Note: replies to threads can be read by clicking on the parent thread’s subject line.
    Discussion forum opened
    The following is an opened thread:
    Discussion Thread Opened

 

Create a New Thread

Click the Discussion Board link in the left navigation and select the link for the forum to which you wish to post. Once you have reached the desired forum:

  1. Click on the Create Thread button.
  2. Enter the Subject field
  3. Enter the Message field.
  4. Click the Submit button.

Discussion Thread Create New

 

Reply to a Thread

  1. Click the link for the thread to which you wish to respond.
  2. Click on the Reply button below the body of the post to which you are replying.click reply
  3. Type your message into the text box.Discussion Thread Text Editor
  4. Click Submit.

 

This search tool is located at the top of your discussion board and is used to search, filter, and display specific threads or forums based on the user’s search conditions.

  1. Click the Search button at the top right of a forum’s page to open the search panel.click search
  2. Type a Keyword into the search field and click the Go button to return results with this keyword.
  3. The “In” drop down menu allows you to designate where to search for this keyword, whether it be within the Current Thread, Current Forum, Current Discussion Board, or All Forums in Course.
  4. The date boxes to the right of the Search text box are used to restrict the dates of the search. Check the After or Before check boxes to apply date restrictions to the search. Leave them unchecked if you do not wish to apply a date restriction.
  5. Click the Go button to start the search.

specify search criteria

 

Collecting and Viewing Threads

Blackboard allows you to view multiple postings at the same time. You can print these postings (including print to PDF). This might be helpful when viewing a very active discussion.

  1. Select the threads you wish to view by clicking the check box located next to each thread.
  2. Click the Collect button at the top.select and collect discussions
  3. Click the Print Preview button to print the selected postings.

print collected discussions

 

Flagging Threads

Flagging threads allows you to flag those threads or forums that you want to find quickly for future reference.

  1. Select the checkbox of the thread you wish to flag.
  2. Hover over the Thread Actions button and select Set Flag. You can also select Clear Flag to remove a flag from the thread.

flag discussion