Respond to a discussion topic

You can reply to topics or other responses while in View or Manage mode.

1. Open the discussion menu item.

   Most courses come with a Discussions or Discussion Board menu item where you add your discussion topics and posts. Instructors can add their own discussions, as well.

2. Under Topics, select the topic you want to respond to.
3. Select  Respond.
4. For Subject, enter a title.
5. If you are responding to an existing discussion response:
   • Select Show More to expand it.
   • Select  Reply.

     The Subject is already set, but you can change it if you want to better describe your post.

6. Use the content editor to write your post.
   • Add equations with the math editor.
   • Embed media, such as images or videos, with the media tool.
7. For Attachments, select Add/Remove (optional). .

   In the Add and Remove Attachments page, under File to attach, browse to the file to be attached. Select Attach File or Save & Attach Another File

   Try to keep each file you attach smaller than 10 MB.

8. Select  Mark as question if you want students to answer your post (optional).
9. Select  Preview to verify your post or  Post to submit it immediately.

   If you preview, you can Continue Editing or select Post Response to submit it.

   Your post appears under the topic you selected. You can edit your response at any time.

Note: If the browser crashes or you lose your network connection before posting, open the course again with the same browser, then navigate to the same discussion topic and select  Respond. Your saved response appears, but you need to enter the Subject text again.

You need to be in Manage mode to edit.

1. Select Manage View above the discussion page then select Manage.
2. Under Topics, select the topic containing the response you want to edit.
3. Select Show More to expand it.
4. Select the Edit icon .
5. Edit the Subject if you want.
6. Use the content editor to edit the post.
7. For Attachments, select Add/Remove (optional).

   Try to keep each file you attach smaller than 10 MB.

8. Select  Mark as question if you want students to answer your post (optional).
9. If you are editing a student’s response, you can change the First Name and Last Name to your name to let students know that you edited the response. Otherwise, the student’s name still appears as the author of the edited response.
10. Select  Preview to verify your post or  Post to submit it immediately.

    Your edited response appears under the topic you selected. Expand the response to see the date and time modified. The original post date and time do not change.

You can allow students to edit their own responses in Discussions Settings, but students can't edit each other's posts.

Students can mark their own responses as questions for the instructor or other classmates to answer. Instructors can also mark a post as a question for students to answer. To quickly see all of the posts marked with  in the topic, select the Questions tab. This tab does not appear within a topic until at least one post is marked as a question.

You can mark a response as a question while in View or Manage mode.

1. Select a topic title under Topics.
2. Respond, reply, or edit a response.
3. Select  Mark as question to add the post to the Questions tab, or select  Unmark as question to remove it.
4. Select  Post.

Note: You cannot edit a response, including marking or unmarking a question, from the Questions tab. Select Back to discussion to edit the post.

Instructors can recommend responses that students can use to model their own posts. For example, a recommended post might include all the required elements to complete an assignment.

You need to be in Manage mode to recommend a response. Students cannot recommend posts.

1. Select a topic title under Topics, and then select Expand all to show all responses.
2. Select  Recommend for the response that you want to recommend.

To quickly see all of the posts marked with  in the topic, select the Recommendations tab. This tab does not appear within a topic until you recommend at least one post for the topic.

Select  Unrecommend to unmark the post and remove it from the Recommendations tab.

Note: You cannot edit a response from the Recommendations tab. Select Back to discussion to edit the post.

If you think specific student posts are inappropriate, you can block them so students can't read or reply to them. You need to be in Manage mode to block a post. Students cannot block posts.

1. Select Manage View above the discussion page then select Manage.
2. Select a topic title under Topics, then locate the response or reply you want to block.
3. Select  Block then either This response only or This response and its replies.

   You now see the post is marked .

4. Select Manage View then select View to see the discussion as your students do.

   A message indicates that the post was blocked.

5. To unblock a post or a post and its replies, select  Unblock then either This response only or This response and its replies.

You can delete any discussion responses that you or your students post, but students cannot delete responses. Deleting a response also deletes all replies to that response. You need to be in Manage mode to delete a response.

If you want to hide an inappropriate response or reply from students without deleting it, you can instead block inappropriate posts.

1. Open the discussion menu item.
2. Select Manage View above the discussion page then select Manage.
3. Under Topics, select the topic containing the response you want to delete.
4. Select the Delete icon  under the response you want to delete.
5. Select Delete to confirm, or Cancel.

   The response is deleted as well as all responses following it.