• Discussions
• Structure of Discussions
• Topics and threads
• Replying to a post
• Where can I find replies?
• Rating a thread

Instructors can create a discussion forum within the course. As a student, you have the opportunity to submit assignments, collaborate, ask questions, and discuss with your fellow students.

• Navigate to Course Tools in the navigation bar of your course.
• Click on Discussions. You will land on the Discussions homepage.
• On the Discussions homepage, you will see an overview of all the discussion forums and topics created by the instructor for the course. This is the Discussions List.

Discussions are made up of three different components:

1. In a discussion forum, you can discuss with your fellow students.
2. This takes place within one or more topics.
3. Within a topic, you can create one or more threads.

A topic within a forum is the place where you can post and read messages. Within this topic, you can then create a thread: a main message that others can respond to with a post. To create a thread, follow these steps:

• On the Discussions homepage, click on a topic. You will see the description of the topic and all the threads that have already been posted.
• If you want to start a new thread, click on Start a New Thread.

1. Enter a subject.
2. Add the text, for example, a question you want to ask or the reason why you are creating the thread.
3. Below the text field, you will see the word count of what you have typed so far.
4. When you create a thread, you will automatically receive notifications (email alerts) if someone replies to your thread. If you do not want this, uncheck Subscribe to this thread. Depending on the settings the instructor has enabled, there may also be an option Post as Anonymous to post a message anonymously.
5. Click Add attachments to attach a file. Then click Upload and find the correct file.
6. Click Post.

Within a topic, you have the opportunity to reply to threads from other participants (for example, providing feedback on an assignment posted by a student or answering a question posed by another student or the instructor).

• Click on the desired topic on the Discussions homepage.
• Click on the title of the thread you want to reply to.

Click Reply to Thread.

1. Type your reply to the thread in the HTML editor.
2. Optionally, click Add original post text to include the post you are replying to.
3. When you reply to a thread, you will automatically receive notifications (email alerts) if someone responds to the thread. If you do not want this, uncheck Subscribe to this thread.
4. Optionally, attach a file by clicking Add Attachments, then click Upload.
5. Click Post.

In a message, you can also tag people by using @, followed by the first letters of the person’s name you want to tag. You can then select the correct name.

The person you tag will receive a notification and an email about the tag, and you will also receive a notification in the Pulse app. If someone tags you, you will also get a notification in your Subscription Alerts in the top-right corner of the minibar.

When someone replies to your thread, you can see this in different ways.

• Under your thread, Unread will be displayed in bold. The number above it indicates how many unread replies there are. Click on Unread to read the reply(ies).

In a five-star system, you can click on a number of stars of your choice under Ratings. You can always adjust or remove your rating by selecting a different number of stars or clicking the circle with a line through it. You can vote on both the main post of the thread and the replies.

There is the option to use Up Vote/Down Vote ratings.

• Click on the plus icon to cast a positive vote on a thread.
• Click on the minus icon to cast a negative vote on a thread.

You can adjust or undo your rating by clicking the plus or minus icon again. You have one vote per post.

The instructor can also choose to use Up Vote Only.

If you can only vote positively, you can do so by clicking the plus icon. You can adjust or undo your rating by clicking the plus icon again.