UCLACenter for Digital Humanities
   HOME  |  ECAMPUS COURSE SITES  |  INSTRUCTIONAL TECHNOLOGY RESOURCES

Instructor Help: Discussions Tool

The Discussion Board allows students and instructors to post messages and questions that may be read by everyone in the class or restricted to a specific group of people.

  1. How might I incorporate this tool in my teaching?
  2. How do I read the messages?
  3. How do I respond to a posted message?
  4. How do I add a new message?
  5. Why don't I see the message I or my student just posted?
  6. How do I get the messages displayed chronologically instead of by subject?
  7. How do I set up separate discussion groups?

1. How might I incorporate this tool in my teaching?

The Discussion Board can be very useful in disseminating information to the entire class instead of repeatedly to individual students, especially when similar questions are asked multiple times. Some instructors post questions to the Discussion Board to which they encourage their students to respond, or ask students to post their own questions or comments.  By monitoring student responses, instructors can gauge how well students understand and synthesize important course concepts.

The Discussion Board is an effective tool for structuring group work. Classes can be divided classes into groups and each group given its own “Topic” in the Discussion Board, such as assigning separate Topics for discussion sections or TAs. Access to a given Topic can even be restricted to just the group members. In smaller groups, students can collaborate on study questions or other activities like peer editing of paper drafts.

In order to use the Discussion Board tool most effectively, instructors should make expectations about using the Discussion Board explicit and specific at the beginning of the course, preferably in the syllabus. Generally, students will participate more consistently and thoughtfully when Discussion Board postings are well integrated with homework assignments and in-class material and discussion.  It is also important to let students know when the instructor will read postings and if/when s/he will respond to them, whether in the Discussion Board itself or during class meetings.

To top

2. How do I read the messages?

  1. Click on Homepage, and then View.

    screenshot

  2. Click on the Discussion Board icon.

    screenshot

  3. A table showing the topics under discussion will appear. Click on the title of the topic you're interested in to see the messages under that topic.

    screenshot

  4. NOTE: The default setting shows only the messages you haven't read yet for each topic. To see all messages, click on the button Display: All near the top of the screen.

    screenshot

  5. Click on the magnifying glass next to the thread that you wish to read (a "thread" is the entire group of messages on a given subject). This will open a smaller window showing all of the messages in that thread, starting with the original post.

    screenshot

  6. To only view individual messages in a thread, click on the green arrow next to the subject. This will expand the thread and show you every message it contains. Then click on the subject line of the individual message you wish to read. The message will open in a smaller new window.

    screenshot

NOTE: If nothing happens when you click on a message, you may have software that disables pop-up windows on your computer. Pop-up blockers will prevent discussion messages from opening since these messages open in new windows. Please see Browser Settings for further instructions on configuring your web browser and enabling pop-up windows in WebCT.

To top

3. How do I respond to a posted message?

  1. In the smaller window displaying the message you just read, click on the REPLY button to respond without including any text from the original message.

  2. If you want to include the original message (or portions thereof) in your response, click on the QUOTE button instead.

  3. In both cases, type your response in the Message box in the new window.

  4. To see how your response will look onscreen, and to check for any typos, click on the PREVIEW button. Close the preview. If you are satisfied, click on the POST button of the reply window. To make changes before posting, click on the EDIT button. If you don't want to post your response after all, click on CANCEL .

  5. NOTE: Once a message has been posted, only the instructor is able to delete it. Even the instructor, however, cannot edit a message once it is posted.

To top

4. How do I add a new message?

  1. Click on the Compose Message button near the top of the message listing.

    screenshot

  2. If there is more than one discussion topic available, you can choose the one you wish from the pulldown menu next to Topic (e.g., in cases when each TA in a class has a separate Topic group). Most often, you will post on "Main."

  3. Enter the subject of your message next to Subject.

  4. Type your message in the large box next to Message.

  5. To see how your message will look onscreen, and to check for any typos, click on the PREVIEW button. Close the preview. If you are satisfied, click on the POST button of the compose window. To make changes before posting, click on the EDIT button. If you don't want to post your message after all, click on CANCEL.

  6. NOTE: Once a message has been posted, only the instructor is able to delete it. Even the instructor, however, cannot edit a message once it is posted.

To top

5. Why don't I see the message I or my student just posted?

To see messages posted since you opened the Discussion Board (or since the last time you did this), click on the Update listing button.

screenshot

NOTE: During an ongoing session, you will have to do this periodically to see the new messages appear.

To top

6. How do I get the messages displayed chronologically instead of by subject?

Click on the word Unthreaded above the list of messages. This will cause the messages to appear in the order they were posted, rather than grouped by subject. Click Threaded to switch back to threaded view.

screenshot

To top

7. How do I set up separate discussion groups?

When you click on the Discussion Board icon from the Homepage, you will see a blue and white table showing all the current topics, which correspond to discussion groups. The default topics are Main and Notes, and they include all students. To create new topics:

  1. While viewing the discussions topic list, select the Designer Options tab.

    screenshot

  2. Under Actions > Options, click on Create Topic.

    screenshot

  3. Type a name for the new discussion topic or group, and click Create.

    screenshot

  4. The new topic now appears in the listing of discussion topics.

By default each new topic is open to public view, so that all students can read and post messages. You may change the settings for each discussion topic as desired:

  • Choosing Private will restrict the topic to specific students. Only those students whom you have made members of that topic can read and post messages (NOTE: don't forget to make yourself a member of the board, so you can read the messages too!). Once you have chosen to make one of your topics private, a new command, Manage Members, will appear in the Options window on the right side of the page. You edit the members of your private topic by selecting the box next to that topic's name and then clicking the Manage Members button. This, in turn, will open up a new screen that lets you select the members of that discussion from everyone registered for your course. When you have selected all of the members, click Done.
  • Choosing Anonymous will make all messages anonymous by default, instead of identifying their author.
  • Choosing Locked will prevent new messages from being posted in that topic, but students can still read the existing ones.

If you would like further instructions on how to use these options, please contact your ITC.

To top