Discussion Boards in Blackboard

Transcription

1 Discussion Boards in Blackboard The Discussion Board (DB) within Blackboard resembles an electronic bulletin board, where people post and edit messages, others reply, start new threads about the same topic, and generally engage in an online dialogue about subjects of interest. Every module in Blackboard has a pre-existing Discussion Board which is usually accessed as a menu item on the main navigation menu You can also access the module Discussion Board as follows: 1. Click on Control Panel 2. Click on Course Tools 3. Click on Discussion Board A Forum is the term for a collection of individual threads/topics within a discussion board. There can be many Forums within one discussion board. It is likely that you will want to create a number of forums within the module Discussion Board and the steps to do are detailed in this guide. Each Forum contains threads (messages) that appear in an indented list format. The list of threads consists of the original thread/topic and any replies appear indented underneath. Clicking on the thread name will open the thread to read it. Anyone can respond to a thread/message by clicking on the reply button within the thread/message, typing in the text area and clicking Submit. Anyone can enter a discussion at any time and start a new thread within the same topic area without replying to a previous thread/message. Blackboard also allows the creation of private group discussion boards accessible only to specific groups of users. 1

2 Create a forum 1. From the Control Panel, click on Course Tools 2. Click on Discussion Board 3. Click on the Module Discussion Board link e.g. ODALY Click on Create Forum Module Discussion Board in every Blackboard Module Figure 1 Create forum 5. Complete Steps 1 4 as shown in Figure 2 Forum Settings on page 3 6. Ensure you click on Submit button to create the forum 7. When you have created a new forum, you should create a thread to start the conversation on a particular topic details about how to do this are included in this guide. 2

3 Figure 2 Forum Settings 3

4 Edit forum settings You may want to change the forum settings e.g. if you wanted to change the description of the forum. To do this: 1. Click on Discussion Board link in main navigation menu Figure 3 Edit forum settings 2. A list of forums within the module Discussion Board will display 3. Click on the grey downward arrows (chevrons) to expand drop down menu 4. Select Edit 5. You are returned to the same screen as shown in figure 2 page 3 6. Make your edits 7. Click on Submit to confirm changes 4

5 Access a forum in the Discussion Board 8. Click on Discussion Board link in main navigation menu 9. A list of forums within the module Discussion Board will display figure 4 is an example which lists three forums with a number of threads/messages posted within each forum. 10. Click on the name of the forum to open a forum Forum Forum Threads within the Forum Threads within the Forum Forum Figure 4 Forums within the Discussion Board Forum Topic Threads within the Forum - click on thread name to open it Figure 5 List of threads/messages within a forum 11. Click on the name of the thread/message that you want to open 12. The main thread (known as the parent post) will appear at the top of the Thread Details screen while the reply posts (known as children posts) will appear below the main thread and indented. 5

6 Create a new thread within a forum 1. Click on the forum name where you want to create a thread Click on Create Thread to start a new topic within the same forum Figure 6 Forum with list of threads 2. Click on the Create Thread button 3. From the Create Thread screen, type the subject of the thread into the Subject field 4. Type the text of the thread into the Message field 5. When finished, scroll down to the bottom and click Submit. 6. Once the thread has been submitted, it will appear as published in the forum 7. Click on OK button must scroll down to the lower bottom left of the screen. This will return you to the list of forums available within the Discussion Board Reply to a thread in a forum 1. Click on the forum name where the reply to a thread will be posted Click this Reply button to reply to the original thread Click on this Reply button to reply to this specific thread Figure 7 Reply Edit Delete buttons 2. Or Click on the Reply button within the thread detail lower right of screen 6

7 3. On the Reply screen, the title will be automatically filled with the title of the main thread. Type your reply in the Message box. 4. Scroll down to the bottom and click Submit. 5. The main thread (known as the parent post) will appear at the top of the Thread Details screen while the reply posts (known as children posts) will appear indented below the main thread. 6. Click OK button must scroll down to the lower bottom left of the screen. This will return you to the list of forums available within the Discussion Board Edit a thread in a forum 1. Click the forum name where the thread is posted 2. Click on the name of the thread to be edited 3. Click Edit button see figure 7 page 6 4. Edit the text in the Message field 5. When finished, scroll down to the bottom and click Submit. The edited thread will appear as published in the Forum. 6. Draft copies are noted in the list of threads within a forum as (draft) and can be retrieved by clicking on the name of the thread, editing as required, and then clicking on Submit button. 7. Once the edited thread has been submitted, it will appear as published in the forum 8. Click on OK button must scroll down to the lower bottom left of the screen. This will return you to the list of forums available within the Discussion Board Delete an existing thread in a forum 1. Click the forum name where the thread is posted 2. Click the name of the thread to open it 3. Click the Delete button see figure 7 page 6 4. You will receive a warning that the action will delete the post and all replies to the post within the thread. 5. Click OK to process or cancel if you do not want to delete the thread 6. To return to the list of forums in the Discussion Board scroll down to the lower bottom left of the screen and click on the OK button. 7

8 Understanding threads layout This indented thread is a reply to the thread immediately above it rather than a reply to the initial thread First reply to the initial thread Second reply to the initial thread Third reply to the initial thread Fourth reply to the initial thread Viewing details of a thread 1. Click on the forum name to open it 2. From the list of threads in the forum place a check mark in the box beside the thread you want to review and click on Collect button 8

9 3. The threads display in the order of time posted and scrolling down are easier to read. You can reply to threads by clicking on the Reply button If you cannot see a Reply/Quote/Edit/Set Flag/Delete button in a thread/message, the thread has been locked by the Instructor and changes may not be made to that thread/message 9