Discussions

Discussions allow participants to discuss aspects of the unit with other students and staff teaching the unit.

Accessing Discussion forums, topics and messages

Discussions can be accessed within the Content or from the Discussions link in the Site Navbar. When you click the Discussions link on the Site Navbar you can access a Discussion list.

1. Click the name of the Discussion forum or topic that you want to access.

New messages are identified in a number of places:

• On the Site Home page, the Updates widget lists the total number of unread messages for all discussion topics in your unit.
• From the Discussions link in the Site Navbar. On the Discussion forum and topics page, the number of unread messages appears beneath each topic. To see only topics with new messages, select Topics with Unread from the Display drop-down list. Unread messages will be displayed in bold.

Reading discussion messages

The recommended viewing style is Grid Style message list - a list of messages appears at the top of the page, showing the subject, author, and date for each message. When you click a message’s subject to read the message, the full message appears either at the bottom of the screen or in a new window, depending on your personal settings.  There is another style called Reading Style.  It is not recommended you use this as there are known issues with this reading style.

The recommended message list view is Threaded.  It is not recommended to use Unthreaded as there are known issues.

Changing Reading styles

You are able to switch between the styles. You will need to change to Grid Style if you want to print your discussions.

1. Click the Discussions link on the Site Navbar or go to a Discussion topic.
2. Click on Settings.
3. Under Message List Style, select Grid Style.

4. Click Save.

Changing viewing options

1. From the View drop-down list at the top right of the page, select Threaded view (where messages are grouped with their replies) or one of the Unthreaded views (All Messages, Unread Only, Flagged Only).
2. Click Apply.

Marking a discussion message as read or unread

When using the Grid Style message list, messages are automatically marked as read when you open them.

In some cases you might also want to manually mark a message as unread—for example, if you open a Grid Style message but do not finish reading it.

• In the Grid Style message list, select one or more messages from the list and click Mark selected messages as Unread icon at the top or bottom of the list.

Posting a discussion message  

1. Click the Discussions link on the Site Navbar or go to a Discussion topic.
2. If you are presented with a list of topics, click on the required topic to view the message(s) in that topic.
   1. To post a new discussion message, click the Compose button.
   2. To reply to a particular message within a topic, go to the desired message, then in Grid Style, click on the message, click the Reply button.
3. Enter the Subject of your message.
4. Enter your Message.
5. You can select to follow updates to your message.
6. To attach a file(s) to your message: the message(s) in that topic.
   1. Click Add a File.
   2. Click Browse to find the file you want to upload. Click Open. You can click Add to attach additional files.
   3. Click Upload.
7. Click Post to post the message.

Tip: Type your message in Word and then paste the text into the discussion. This saves online time and avoids losing the message if session times out while you are composing the message.

Flagging messages in Discussions

Flagging messages is a good way to mark a message if you want to read it again later or monitor replies.

1. Go to the required Discussion topic.
2. To flag or un-flag a message click the Flagged iconnext to the message’s subject.

You can quickly find your flagged messages by selecting Flagged Only from the View drop-down list at the top right of the message list.

Subscribing to a discussion forum, topic or message

You can receive email notifications for discussion forums, topics or messages that you want to follow.

Subscribe to notifications

1. Click on Discussions in the Site Navbar, or go to any of the available Discussion tool views.
2. Click the Subscribe iconto receive notifications on a forum, thread, or message.
3. You will receive a confirmation message. Select your desired options for notifications.
4. Click Yes. The icon color will change to yellow.

Unsubscribe from notifications

1. Click on Discussions in the Site Navbar, or go to any of the available Discussion tool views.
2. Click the Unsubscribe iconto stop receiving notifications.
3. You will receive a confirmation message. Select your desired options for notifications.
4. Click Yes. The icon color will change to grey.

Managing discussion subscriptions

You can manage subscriptions for forums, topics or messages and make changes to your subscriptions in the Subscriptions area of Discussions.

1. Click on Discussions in the Site Navbar.
2. Under Discussion areas, click Subscriptions.
3. Select your required display option from the drop down box.
4. Go to the required Discussion forum where you can:
   • make changes to the Notification Frequency setting,
   • unsubscribe from or subscribe to any forum, topic or message.

Searching for messages in Discussions

To search for a message:

1. Go to the required Discussion Topic.
2. Click on the Topic you want to search.
3. If the Search For field is not visible at the top of the message list, click Show Searchat the top of the page.
4. Enter the terms you want to find in the Search For field.
5. Click the Search button.

To perform an advanced search:

1. Click the Show Search Options link to the right of the Search button.
2. Specify additional search criteria from the options displayed beneath the Search For field.
3. Click the Search button.

To see all messages again, click Clear Search at the top or bottom of the message list.

Printing messages in Discussions

When using the Grid Style message list, you can view messages in a printable format and send the messages to your printer.

1. Go to the required Discussion topic.
2. In the Grid Style message list, select the messages you want to print.
3. Click the View Selected Messages as Printable iconat the top or bottom of the list.
4. Click the Print button.