Creating Discussion Board Forums

The Blackboard Discussion tool allows for students to share ideas, express their opinions and demonstrate their knowledge of course topics. It also allows students to discuss and learn from their classmates. Discussions which count towards a course grade can also be created so that a grade center column is automatically added for the activity.

1. Navigate to the course Discussion Board. 
   
   
2. Click the Create Forum button
   
   
3. Enter a Name and Description of the forum
   
   
4. Forums can be setup in advance using the availability options. Use Display After to set a date for when the forum will become available to students. If you want to remove student access on a certain date, set the Display Until
   
   
   
   
5. Select the appropriate forum settings
   
   
   • Allow Anonymous Posts: Anonymous posting allows students to post replies or messages anonymously. There is no way for students or the instructor to see who posted the message.
     
     
   • Allow Author to Delete Own Posts: When selected, students are able to remove previously posted messages. This is generally not suggested since students could remove threads or remove their original opinions since they could delete and then repost their message.
     
     
   • Allow Author to Edit Own Published Posts: When selected, students are able to edit their original postings. This is generally not suggested since editing the posts can result in a thread of messages that becomes confusing to follow.
     
     
   • Allow Post Tagging: Allows text labels or tags to be used to group similar messages together for search purposes.
     
     
   • Allow Users to Reply with Quote: Students are able to include the text of the original message in any replies to that message
     
     
   • Allow File Attachments: Students may attach files to their messages and replies.
     
     
   • Allow Members to Create New Threads: When selected, students may introduce a new subject to the Forum. Otherwise, students will only be allowed to reply to the original thread. This option is selected by default.
     
     
   • Allow Members to Subscribe to Threads: Students can choose to receive emails when a new post is made to the discussion forum.
     
     
   • Allow Members to Rate Posts: Students can evaluate posts based on a fixed, 5 point scale.
     
     
   • Force Moderation of Posts: A designated moderator must approve all posts before they can be viewed by other students. The instructor and individual students can be designated as a moderator for the forum.
     
     
     
     
   • Grade Discussion Forum: If the discussion is a required activity for the course, assign the total points possible for the discussion forum. This will automatically create a column in the grade center and designates it in the discussion category.
     
     
     
     
   • Grade Threads: Allows for the grading of individual threads within the forum.

6. Once all options are selected, click Submit to create the forum.