Creating Discussion Board Forums

The Blackboard Discussion tool allows students to share ideas, discuss and learn from their classmates, express their opinions, and demonstrate their knowledge of course topics.  Instructors can create forums that count towards a course grade and a grade center column will automatically be added for the activity.

If you have not done so, first create a Discussion Board link in your course menu

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 set up in advance using the availability options. Use Display After to set a date for when the forum will become available. If you want to remove student access on a certain date, set the Display Until date.
   
   
   
   
5. Select the appropriate forum settings
   • No Grading in Forum: The forum will remain ungraded.
     Grade Discussion Forum: If the discussion is a required activity for the course, assign the total points possible for the discussion forum. A column in the grade center will automatically be created and will be designated in the discussion category.
     Grade Threads: Allows for the grading of individual threads within the forum
     
     
     
   • A "needs grading" status ! (exclamation point) will trigger in the grade book after a designated number of posts from each student.
     
     
   • Allow Anonymous Posts: Anonymous posting allows students to post replies or messages anonymously. Anonymous posts will only be allowed if there is no grading in the forum.
     
     
   • Allow Author to Delete Own Posts: Students can 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: Students can 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 for search purposes.
     
     
   • Allow Users to Reply with Quote: Students can 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: 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 other students can view them. The instructor and individual students can be designated as a moderator for the forum.

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