Manage discussions

Updated 19 Feb 2024

The Discussion window lets you view a discussion topic with posted messages and responses. You can edit the discussion topic, post responses to the discussion, and delete messages or responses.

MyLab IT Information

The type of discussion described here allows students and you to talk about an issue in the course. For example, you might pose a question for students to answer and debate. Both instructors and students can post responses and attach supporting files.

Such a discussion can be assigned to the calendar but not graded. However, you might take student activity in discussions into account in a grade for class participation.

Alternatively, you can create discussions threads with topics for more informal, social communication. Such topics cannot be assigned or added to the calendar.

View discussions

  1. Go to the Course Materials > Manage Course Materials page or the My Course list on the Course Materials > Add from Library page.
  2. Locate the discussion you want to view.
  3. Click Open on the topic's options menu.

After you display the discussion, you can examine the content in more detail:

  • To view the text of the original discussion, click Expand. To close, click Collapse.
  • To filter the list of responses posted by students, click to select the Display options you want to use:
    • All Messages: Display all Read and Unread messages posted in the discussion.

      - or -

    • Unread Messages Only: Display only unread messages.

      - and -

    • Threaded: View the original messages and all related responses to that message. Responses are visually connected to the original post. Click Expand All/Collapse All to open/close the threaded messages.

      - or -

    • Unthreaded: View messages listed in the chronological order in which they were posted.
  • For each response, use the options menu to:
    • Open: Open the Message window, which displays the following options:
      • Message
      • Author
      • Posted date
      • Any attachments or audio messages
      • To browse through available messages, click the Previous Message and Next Message links.
      • To reply to the message click Post Response to open the Reply window.
    • Post Response: Open the Reply window, which lets you post a response to the message and view the Original Message details. For information about entering a reply, see Create discussion topics.
    • Delete: Delete the response.

To edit the discussion topic, select Edit from the options menu of the discussion name. For details on how to edit a discussion, see Create discussion topics.

Post responses and manage discussion topics

The discussion toolbar includes the following options, which you can use to post responses and manage discussion topics:

    1. Click Post Response.
    2. In the Reply window, enter the response's subject.
    3. To add an attachment to the discussion, click Choose File to select the files and then click Attach. The file name appears; you can click it to open the file. To remove an attachment, click Delete to the right of the file name.

      You can attach up to 3 files with a maximum file size of 2.5MB each.

    4. If enabled, click the Record button next to Post Audio to record and post an audio message.

        5. — and/or —

        Type the message in the content editor.

    5. Click Post.

To mark a message as read, select the messages and click Mark Read. Messages appear in regular font.

To mark a message as unread, select the messages and click Mark Unread. Messages appear in bold font.

  1. Select the messages and click Delete or select Delete from an individual message's options menu.
  2. Select one of the following options:
    • Delete this message but keep responses: Delete only the message and not the responses posted for the message.
    • Delete this message and all responses: Delete the message and the responses posted for the message.
  3. Click OK.