Discussions

The Discussions tool is a collaboration area to post, read, and reply to threads on different topics, share thoughts about course materials, ask questions, share files, or work with your peers on assignments and homework within your course.

Your instructor will typically post a discussion topic related to the course material and you and your classmates respond by posting messages. The Discussions tool is much like a message board in an online community, as communication does not take place in real time and messages are typically organized into threads.

Access Discussions

1. From the course navigation bar, click Communication and select Discussions.
    
2. Click on the name of the Discussion Topic you would like to view.
   
   
3. If other students in the course have posted threads to this Discussion Topic, you will be able to preview their threads from this screen.
   
   
4. To view another user's thread in more detail (including any replies to that thread), and to mark it as "read" in the system, click on the title of the thread you would like to view. 

Post a Thread to a Discussion

1. From the course navigation bar, click Communication and select Discussions.
   
   
2. Click on the name of the Discussion Topic you would like to reply to. 
   
   
3. Click the Start a New Thread button.
   
   
4. Enter a subject for your thread in the Enter a subject input field. 
   
   
5. Enter your text or other elements into the input field provided.
   
   
   • If you would like to share and embed a video into your Discussion Thread, click the Insert Stuff button in the HTML editor. Click the Enter Embed Code option and paste the Embed Code of the video you wish to share. If you are sharing a VIUTube video, you can find more information about how to grab the embed code of a VIUTube video on our Share VIUTube Media page.
     
     
   • If you would like to share a link in your Discussion Thread, click the Insert Quicklink button (chain link icon) in the HTML editor. Select URL and paste the link you wish to share in the URL field. Give your link a Title and click the blue Insert button once you are ready to create your link.
     
     
   • If you would like to share and embed an image into your Discussion Thread, click the Insert Image button in the HTML editor. Select My Computer and find and upload the image you wish to share. Alternatively, click the URL option to embed an image from the web. 
     
     
   • If you wish to attach or include any other documents to your Discussion Thread, click the sideways arrow next to the Add attachments text. Drag and drop the file you wish to share into the upload field, or click the Upload button and find and select the file you wish to share. 
     
     
6. Once you have finished creating and editing your Thread, click the blue Post button.

Reply to a Discussion Thread or Post

1. From the course navigation bar, click Communication. From the dropdown menu, select Discussions.
   
   
2. Click on the name of the Discussion Topic in question. 
   
   
3. Click on the title of the Discussion Thread you would like to reply to.
   
   
4. Click the Reply to Thread button to reply to the thread. You can also reply to other Posts underneath that thread by clicking the Reply text underneath the post you would like to reply to.  
   
   
5. Give your Post a new title if you wish. Then, insert any text, media, or documents you wish to share. For more information about sharing media and documents in Discussions, view the instructions To Post a Thread to a Discussion Topic above.