Setup a Discussion, Blog, or Journal

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Overview
Create Topics
Set Topic as Gradable
Message Area
Post Messages
Reply to Messages

Overview Three types of topics are available through the discussion tool: Threaded Discussions Collaborative Blogs Private Journals A threaded discussion provides asynchronous conversation (not occurring simultaneously) through posted messages and responses. The term "threaded" indicates a message is displayed with all of its related replies. In online instruction, a threaded discussion gives you the opportunity to have a discussion with the students in the class electronically. Many courses and resources offered online use a threaded discussion as their primary communication tool. Communicating online requires that you be more patient than you would be face-to-face because you will not get immediate feedback. The lack of facial expressions makes it more difficult to interpret the information correctly. However, an advantage in online communication is that students have an opportunity to think about what they want to say before posting it, resulting in more thought provoking discussion than typically experienced in a live classroom. You may require peer reviews of your students for the discussion postings. A student will click the Review this Message button provided to submit a peer review. You also have an option to make a threaded discussion topic gradable. A collaborative blog allows the students in a class to post a chronological series of entries on a particular topic. Students may also add comments to any of the blog entries. This enables participants to collaboratively create an informational piece about a topic. They may login at any time, day or night, to contribute to the blog's content. A collaborative blog can be designated as gradable. A private journal gives each student a place to write and reflect. Creating one journal topic automatically generates a private space for every student. Journals are typically kept private between the student and the instructor, but can also be setup to be shared with the class. You may make a private journal topic gradable. For help adding the Discussion tool to your course, see Adding a New Tool.

Create Topics	TOP
Create topics to break up sections of discussion. For example, you may have a discussion topic based on weeks in the semester or chapters in a textbook. Under the Build or Teach Tabs, click on Discussions. To create new topics for the discussion forum, click Create Topic from the top menu. Select the type of Discussion topic you need: Threaded topic, Blog topic, or Journal topic Click Next Fill out the Discussion Topic Title and other settings as appropriate WARNING: Avoid using special characters ( @ # % & ; ) in filenames and titles Options to consider when setting up a topic: The Description may be used to hold the instructions to guide the students as they begin posting to the topic. The description can be kept from semester to semester eliminating the need to repost it again after a course reset. Discussion topics can be designated as gradable. Goals can be associated with a topic. Students can be allowed to both post and reply to the topic or you may limit them to only posting or only replying. Students can be allowed to edit their own posts after submitting them. Postings can be anonymous. Peer review is available for a threaded discussion topic. With peer review, students in the class may evaluate the work of their peers based on a simple rating scale or a grading form. You may allow students to see the reviews for all the messages or only the reviews for their own messages. Peer reviews can also be set up so that they are anonymous. To submit a peer review for a post, a student simply clicks on the Review this Message button provided. Click Save

Set Topic as Gradable	TOP
By default, discussion topics are not gradable. You must select these options in the topic properties to allow for this feature to be available. Under the Teach Tab, click on Discussions Click on the ActionLinks icon next to the topic you want to make gradable NOTE: If you do not see the Topic you are looking for, it may be displayed on the next page. At the bottom of the window, you will find Next Page and Previous Page icons you can use to navigate through the list of Topics. Select Edit Properties Select the option Allow the topic to be graded Select Numeric if you want to be able to total the column up with other columns later Optional: See the tutorial on Grading Forms if you plan to grade with a rubric Check the box next to Release grade to Students Click Save

Message Area	TOP
A discussion thread refers to a message and all of the replies directly relating to that message. These threads can be expanded by clicking on the corresponding button. All the messages in that thread will be listed. Re: indicates a reply to a previous response. After clicking on a topic, you see a screen showing the messages that have been posted to that topic. Click on the All button to see all of the messages in that topic or the Unread button to see the unread messages only. TIP: If you do not see the message you are looking for, it may be displayed on the next page. At the bottom of the window, you will find Next Page and Previous Page icons you can use to navigate through the list of messages. Also, you may temporarily change your paging preference for the session to increase the number of items displayed on the page or you may permanently increase the default number of items (e.g. messages) displayed per screen by modifying your global Bb's Paging Preference. Click on the button next to a message to expand it and show all of its replies. Click on the title of a message to open it up and read it. After reading the message you selected, you have the option of continuing to read the thread by clicking on Next Message or by asking to Display the Complete Thread and see all of the posts at once for that thread. You may also return to the Topic main area by selecting Close this window.

Post Messages	TOP
To post a new message to the discussion tool, click on Create Message. You are shown a message area where you may type your response. Your response can be any length (two sentences, two pages, etc.). Session Timeout WARNING: Blackboard sessions timeout after 30 minutes of inactivity. Web Browsers DO NOT register typing as activity. If you're typing an assignment, assessment, or discussion submission for longer than 30 minutes, the session may timeout when the submit button is pressed. This means that you may lose your work. TIP: To prevent lost work, create your content in a word processor, and then copy & paste the content into Blackboard. Click Post to post your message to the discussion. You may also add files to your message, for example a Microsoft Word Document. To attach, click Add Attachments and follow the prompts to choose a file from your computer to add to the message. WARNING: Avoid using special characters ( @ # % & ; ) in filenames and titles. NOTE: See the File Upload Tutorial for information on how to add attachments.

Reply to Messages	TOP
Respond to posts from the message window by clicking on the Reply button.
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