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Using the Discussion Board to Post & Reply
Index
Navigating Through the Discussion Board
Creating a Thread (Making an Initial Posting)
Creating a Reply (Responding to another Posting)
Overview & Terminology
The Discussion Board provides an online meeting space where each member of the class can interact with others. This is very similar to having a class discussion in a face-to-face class. The key thing to remember is that nothing is private in the Discussion Board area.
Please read the section on Email Etiquette on the Getting Started page. Just like an email, take the time to make your Discussion Board contributions professional by using proper English and complete sentences.
The Discussion Board is asynchronous. This means that participants do NOT have to be online at the same time.
Forum — The initial question or statements posed by the instructor. Think of a Forum as a discussion on one topic.
Thread — A posting in a Forum and all replies to that posting .
Posting — Comments submitted by a student or instructor.
Reply — Comments submitted in response to another posting.
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Navigating Through the Discussion Board
The Discussion Board may appear as a link in the Course Menu, as an option under Communication, or as a link in a Content Area. Check with your instructor for the location.
After finding the Discussion Board, this is the first screen that you will see. It contains the Forums.
Each Forum has a name. This name is a link. Click on the link to enter the Forum. In the example above there are two Forums: Chapter 11 and Chapter 9.
When you click on one of the Forum links, you will be taken to the discussion threads screen. On this screen you have the option to view the threads in Tree View or List View.
Each row contains the information about one Thread. The name of the Thread is a clickable link. Click the link to open that thread. Information about the total number of posts contained in the thread is located to the far right along with the number of posts that are unread.
There are several ways to view Postings. As in the example below, you can click on a Thread link and then click on each Posting one by one. Each Posting is indicated by a red arrow. Notice how the second and third Postings are indented? This means the Posting was a Reply to the first Posting.
An easier way to read all of the Postings in a Thread is to use the Collect feature indicated by the blue arrow. First put checkmarks in the checkboxes of those Posting you wish to read or click on the Go button (indicated by the green arrow) to select ALL of the Postings. Then click on the Collect button.
At the Forum level (where you can see all of the Threads at one time) it is also possible to Collect all of the Postings in all of the Threads at one time. The Go button to collect all of the Postings is below the Threads. In the image below it is indicated by the green arrow. First click on Go then click on Collect in the small toolbar above the Threads (indicated by the blue arrow).
If you choose to view ALL of the Postings at one time, it may be useful to sort them. At the top of the screen that displays all of the postings are three sort choices. Note: if you have saved a Posting or Thread as a Draft then change the Status to Show All and click Go to view it.
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Creating a Thread (Making an Initial Posting)
At the Forum level (where you can see all of the Threads listed) is an Add Thread button. Click on this button.
Completing the form to add a Thread is very similar to using the Send Email feature in Blackboard. In Section 1 complete the Subject line and place comments in the Message Text Box. Use Section 2 to add a file (optional) and finish by clicking on Submit in Section 3. For more information on adding a file click here.
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Retrieving a Draft
If you click Save instead of Submit then your posting (Thread or Reply) will be saved as a Draft. Other members of the class cannot see your saved drafts.
To retrieve your draft enter the Forum and/or Thread. Change the View to Tree View in the upper-right corner. You should now see your draft. Click on it to finish your response and then click on Submit to publish it to the rest of your class.
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Replying to a Posting (Responding to another Posting)
To reply to a posting look for a Reply button when reading the Posting. If you have used the Collect feature then you will need to click on the Posting Detail and then look for a Reply button.
The Reply form is identical to the form to create a Thread. Complete and finish by clicking on Submit.
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