Discussions
To access your Discussions in D2L you can click the Discussions link from the top navigation bar of your D2L Course Home.
The Discussion Board is a communication tool used to discuss topics from class, sign up for assignments or projects, ask general course questions, etc. Student conversations are logged and organized in the Discussion Board. Conversations are grouped into threads that contain a main posting and all related replies. Your instructor will create the forum for your class and each course will be somewhat different, but these general instructions will assist you.
Discussions Homepage
Upon clicking the Discussions Link from the top Navigation
Bar you will be taken to the Discussions Homepage.
|
1.
The Display drop down menu will allow you
to select between "All Forums and Topics" and "Topics with
Unread". If you select "All Forums and Topics"
you will see all Discussion Forums that are available in your
course. If you choose "Topics with Unread" you will see
the Discussion Forums where you have yet to read through the
messages. This can be a great tool to jump right to
Forums you still need to read thru.
|
|
2.
This area will contain the Discussion
Board Title along with a description of what the Instructor
may want posted in it.
|
3.
This graphic represents a Forum that is
visible only for a specific range of dates. Note at the
bottom of the Forum description you can see the date
ranges. This Forum will only be visible during this time
frame and before and after those dates you will not be able to
see it or make posts.
|
|
4.
This area is the actual Discussion Forum
where you can read and make posts. Note how it tells
you how many discussions are going on in the Forum and how
many you have left to read. You will click this link to
enter that particular Discussion Forum.
|
|
5.
Some Discussion Forums have multiple
topics inside them. You can enter each one separately
by clicking the links here or if you click the Discussion
Board Title you will be taken to a page where you can choose
which Topic you want to post inside.
|
Entering Discussion Board
Upon clicking the topic title you wish to read or post in
you will be taken to that particular Discussion Board.
|
1.
The Back to Forums and Topics List will
take you back to the Discussions Homepage.
|
|
2.
The Compose button will open a new window
where you can make a new post to the Discussion Forum.
This will be covered in more detail in the next section
called: Making a Discussion Board Post
|
|
3.
The Refresh button will refresh the Forum
without having to leave it and reenter to update new posts
that may have come in while you were inside the Forum.
|
|
4.
The Show Search button will bring up a
text box that will allow you to search within the current
Forum you are inside. If you want to look for a
particular post you know the name too or just another
classmate you can do that here.
|
|
5.
The Settings button will open up another
window where you can change the settings for the way you view
your Discussion Boards. You can change the default view
from Grid view to Reading view and also have the Search bar
show up by default without having to click to show it.
|
|
6.
The View drop down menu will allow you to
change the way topics are displayed in the Forum. You
can sort to just show flagged messages, unread messages, or
all messages.
|
7.
This icon will show you messages that you
have flagged. Below this you can click the flag icon to
flag a message for future reference. After doing this you
can sort the messages from the View menu to just see your
flagged messages.
This icon will show you messages that have
an attachment. If you go inside that topic you will be
able to download the attachment.
|
|
8.
This area contains all of the posts
inside the Discussion Forum. Note the difference
between a unread post and one that has been read
before. This area also contains information on when the
message was posted along with the posters name. Just
click the message title to read that post.
|
Making a Discussion Board Post
If you click the Compose button from Step 2 above a new window will
open with the New Message Page.
|
1.
This will tell you the name of the Forum
you are currently in as well as the Topic under which you are
posting a message.
|
|
2.
This is the subject or title of your
Topic Post. This is what other users will see in the
Discussion Board.
|
|
3.
In the text field is where you will enter
the message or body of your Discussion Board Post.
There is a basic word editor to allow you to format your
message with tools such as (bold, underline, italics,
orientation, and even a spell checker.
|
|
4.
The Attachment tool will allow you to
attach a file to your Discussion Board Post. Click the
Add a File button and then browse your computer for the file
you want to attach. Once you have found it, highlight
the file and select Open.
|
|
5.
The Cancel button will return you to the
last Discussion Forum you were in.
|
|
6.
Once you have filled in all the relevant
information for your Post you can click the Post button to
submit your Post to the Discussion Forum. It will be
immediatly available for everyone to read.
|