Discussion Basics

Audience

Faculty

Question

How do I create a discussion board in D2L?

Answer

You can use the Discussions tool to develop a community of learners in your course. Instructors and students interact with one another by posting threads and reading and replying to others.

Discussions are most often used for class discussion of course material. To get started, we recommend that you create an Introductions Topic, and create a Class Questions Topic for students to post general questions about the class.

Create Forums & Topics

Forums are used as headings to organize your Discussion Topics.

Topics are the actual discussions (i.e., where users post and read messages).

NOTE: Each Topic must belong to a Forum. If you create a Forum without a Topic, it will not be visible to students.

Create a Discussion Forum

  1. Select Discussions on the Navbar

  2. Select the New button at the top of the page and select New Forum
  3. Enter a Title for the Forum, such as Chapter Discussions
  4. [Optional] Enter a Description for the Forum
  5. Several Options will appear under the Description box. Select the question mark next to an option for more information. If you set options at the Forum level, they will apply to all Topics in the Forum. You may find it best to apply the options at the Topic level.
  6. Select Save & Add Topic to add a Topic to the Forum

Create a Discussion Topic

  1. If you selected Save & Add Topic, you will be on the New Topic page. If not, return to the Discussion home, select New at the top of the page, select New Topic, then select a Forum.
  2. Enter a Title for the Topic.
  3. Ensure the correct Forum is selected.
  4. If the discussion will be assessed, enter the total points possible in the Grade Out Of box. D2L will automatically create the associated grade item. If you have already created a grade item, select the In Grade Book menu and select Edit or Link to Existing, and then select the appropriate grade item.
  5. Enter a Description to guide the discussion. 
  6. [Optional] Expand the Availability Dates & Conditions menu in the left frame.
    1. Enter a Start and/or End date if desired.
    2. You can also manage your release conditions and group restrictions.
  7. [Optional] Expand the Post & Completion menu and make your selections.
  8. [Optional] Expand the Evaluation & Feedback menu and add a rubric if desired.
  9. Select Save & Close.

Edit a Forum or Topic

  1. On the Discussions page, select the arrow next to the item.
  2. Select Edit Forum or Edit Topic.
  3. Make your changes.
  4. Save and Close.

View Messages

  1. From the main Discussions page, select a Topic
  2. Select on one of the Threads. The original thread (message) will be displayed at the top of the page. Any replies to the thread will be listed under the original thread.

Post a New Message

  1. Select on the Topic link
  2. Select the blue Start a New Thread button at the top of the page.
  3. Enter a subject in subject box.
  4. Select into the text box to enter your message.
  5. Select the blue Post

Reply to a Thread, or to a Reply

  1. To Reply to a Thread, select the blue Reply button at the top of the page.
  2. Select the text box below the subject line and enter your message.
  3. Select the blue Post

Assess a Discussion Post

If you plan to assess student participation in Discussions, you will need an Assessment attached to each Topic. Even if you do not plan to record a score in the gradebook, adding an assessment to a Topic gives you the ability to pull all posts from one student together in an easy-to-read format.

  1. Select the arrow next to the Title of your Topic and select Edit Topic.
  2. On the Edit Topic page, enter a Grade Out Of score.
  3. If you leave the In Grade Book option selected, a new grade item will be automatically created. If you have already created the grade item, select the In Grade Book menu and select Edit or Link to an Existing item. Otherwise, you will end up with duplicate grade items.
  1. Save and Close.

Assess the Topic

  1. Select the arrow next to the Topic
  2. Select Assess Topic
  1. Select the Topic Score link below the student’s name.
  1. You will see a summary of the student’s activity at the top of the page (total number of posts and replies)
  2. Scroll through the posts on the left side
  3. In the right side, enter a score and feedback.
  4. Select Publish or Save Draft.
  5. Use the arrows at the top or bottom of the page to go to the next student.

Delete/Restore a Forum or Topic

NOTE: Deleting Forums/Topics will delete any messages posted by your students to that Forum/Topic and any associated grades. If you delete a Forum, you will also delete all Topics in the Forum.

  1. Select the arrow next to the Forum or Topic you wish to delete
  2. Select Delete
  3. Select Yes in the confirmation box

To Restore a Deleted Topic or Forum

  1. On the Discussions page, select the More Actions menu at the top of the page
  2. Select Restore
  3. On the Restore Forums and Topics page, select Restore
  4. Select Yes in the confirmation box
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