Discussion Board

New Discussion Board Features

The Discussion Board allows multiple levels of communication between the students themselves and the instructor. Conversations are logged and organized making it easy for the instructor to see who is participating in the discussions. Discussion board questions are initiated by the instructor in both the Manage Groups and the whole class Discussion Board area by creating a forum. Whether in the Discussion Board area or the Group Discussion Board area, Forums can only be created by the instructor. Once created, students can answer the discussion board question by creating a thread. Upon completion of the discussion, instructors can archive the forum.

There are no time display options available in this area.

Blackboard Manual Files:
Discussion Board PDF Icon Forum Archives PDF Icon
Add / Modify Forum PDF Icon Add Archive PDF Icon
Forums PDF Icon Modify Archive PDF Icon
Post and Reply PDF Icon  

Here's what you'll be doing in the exercise below:

  1. In the Control Panel, click on Discussion Board in the Course Tools area.
  2. Click Add Forum.
  3. Add information in the Title and Description field
  4. Select Forum Settings.
  5. Select Forum User Settings, if needed.
  6. Click on the Submit button.

Adding a Forum

Exercise
Discussion Board

Step 1: In the Control Panel, click on Discussion Board in the Course Tools area. 
 
Course Tools

Step 2: Click Add Forum.

Screen Shot--Add Forum

Step 3: In the Title field, type “Rain Forest Biodiversity.”

Add the following description in the Description field:

After reading the biodiversity article and watching the clip from the Matrix answer the following question:            

Agent Smith in the Matrix said, “I’d like to share a revelation that I’ve had during my time here. It came to me when I tried to classify your species, and I realized that humans are not actually mammals. Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment; but you humans do not. Instead you multiply, and multiply, until every resource is consumed. The only way for you to survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern…a virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer on this planet, you are a plague, and we…are the cure.” Support Agent Smith’s statement using examples from the reading, your own experience and from two articles that you have located on the Internet. Provide the URL for the articles that you have found at the end of your answer.

            You are responsible for adding an initial thread and responding to two other classmates.

Notice that the text formatting options are similar to those available in other areas of the Blackboard platform.

                       Discussion Board Screen Shot
Step 4: Select Forum Settings. Choose the settings that you feel are appropriate for the discussion. We suggest that you deselect “Allow anonymous posts” and select “Allow author to modify message after posting” by clicking on the checkbox to the left of the option.

Discussion Forum Settings

Step 5: Optional. Instructors have the option of blocking students who make inappropriate comments. Click on the student name to highlight the item. Click Block. To unblock a student, highlight the student’s name and click on the Unblock button.

Discussion Forum Settings

Step 6: Click Submit to submit your Discussion Board question.

Discussion Board - Forum Screen Shot

Adding a New Thread

  1. To create a new discussion topic within a forum, click the Add New Thread button in the top left corner of the list of messages.
  2. In the Create New window, enter a subject line in the Subject textbox.
  3. Enter the body of the message in the Message textbox.

If you are using Windows Internet Explorer as your browser, you will see formatting toolbars similar to Microsoft Word at the top of the Message textbox.

Screen Shot Internet Explorer

Unfortunetly, faculty using Mozilla, Firefox, or any browser on a Macintosh, will not see these toolbars.

Screen Shot Firefox Text Box Toolbar

The Smart Text option allows you to use the enter and space keys to insert white space into the message and to use HTML code to format parts of your message. Smart Text will also convert full web addresses to hyperlinks (i.e. http://www.ship.edu).

  1. If you would like to attach a file to your message, click Browse, select the file you would like to add, and click Open to attach the file.
  2. Click Preview to reread your message before submitting it. Once you are satisfied with your message, click Submit.

Use only letters, numbers, hyphens, and underscores in
filenames: no spaces or other characters. Any file you
attach must end with a file extension (.doc, .ppt).

Reading and Replying to a Message

Reading Student Threads

  1. Upon entering the discussion forum, you will see a list of messages. Click the link for a message's subject line to read that message.
  2. Click the Reply button located in the bottom right corner of the message to reply to the message that you are reading.
  3. Enter the body text into the Text box.
  4. To attach a file to your message, click Browse, select the file you would like to add, and click Open to attach the file.
  5. Click the Submit button.

Reading Message Attachments

  1. A paper clip will appear next to its subject line in the list of messages if the sender has attached a file. You must open the thread/message in order to open the attached file.
  2. In the message header, you'll see an Attachment: line. Click the filename to open the file.
  3. If you are using Mozilla to view Blackboard, you will be prompted to Open or Save the file. Select Open. If you are using Internet Explorer to view Blackboard, the file may either open within the Blackboard window, or you may be prompted to either Open or Save the file.

Sorting Messages

  1. Scroll down to the bottom of the list of messages. Sort By: options will appear to the left.
  2. Options are by Date, Author, Subject, or Default. Default sorts threads chronologically, with replies included below initial messages.

Collecting Messages into a Single Window for Viewing, Printing, or Saving to a File

  1. Make sure that all threads are expanded by clicking Expand All.
  2. Click Show Options, the tab toward the top right. A toolbar appears, as do checkboxes next to the messages.

    Show Options Screen Shot

  3. Click the check boxes next to the postings you want to view, print, or save. If you want to view all of the postings, click Select All.

    Options Screen Shot

  4. Click Collect to display the contents of all selected posts in a single window.
  5. If you want to print the messages, click once anywhere in the area that the messages appear, and click Print on your browser's toolbar.
    1. If you want to save the messages to a file,
    2. Go to your browser's Edit menu and click Select All. The message text will be highlighted.
    3. Then return to the Edit menu and click Copy.
    4. Open a new Microsoft Word document.
    5. Go to the Edit menu and choose Paste Special?.
    6. In the Paste as options window, select Unformatted Text and click OK. Save your document and return to the Blackboard window.
  6. Click OK to return to the default message list.