Overview:
The Discussions tool in D2L is a collaborative area to post, read and reply to threads on different topics, share thoughts about course materials, ask questions, share files or work with your peers on assignments and homework. You can use the Discussions tool in your course to:

• Encourage users to share thoughts on course material with their peers
• Set up forums for users to ask questions
• Pose questions for the class to debate
• Discuss the answers to an assignment
• Create forums for groups to work on group assignments

Follow these instructions to create a Discussion forum and topics:

1. Log in to your course and from the navigation bar click Discussions.

 

  

2. From the New drop-down menu, select New Forum.

 

3. Under the New Forum Details section, you will find the following options:

1. 1. Enter a Title (required)
   2. Enter a Description (optional)
   3. Choose if you would like to Allow anonymous messages
   4. Choose if you would like Users must start a thread before they can read and reply to other threads in each topic
   5. Choose if you would like to Display forum description in topics
   6. Choose if A moderator must approve individual posts before they display in the forum

 

4. Click on the Restrictions tab and you can scroll through the Availability section.  You can choose if you would like the forum to be available during a certain time period and when that availability ends.

 

5. You can set Release Conditions for this forum or make it restricted to certain groups.

NOTE:  For more information on Release Conditions watch this tutorial on the topic – Attach a Release Condition.

 

6. Click Save and Close or, if you are ready to add topics, click on Save and Add Topic.

 

7. Once you click on Save and Add Topic, you will be taken to a new screen to title your topic, decide if it should be graded, and add a description.

 

8. On the right-hand side, there are three areas you can expand to view more settings.

 

9. The first area of settings is Availability Dates & Conditions where you can decide on the start date, end date, release conditions, and restrictions.

 

10. The next area is Post & Completion where you can decide if students hide their names, have students start a thread before viewing/replying to other threads, or if all posts must have approval to be displayed.

 

11. The last area is Evaluation & Feedback where you can add rubrics, select learning objectives, and decide if learners can rate posts.

 

12. When finished with your Discussion settings, click Save and Close.

 

If you experience issues or have any questions regarding this topic, please contact the TAC at 540-831-7500 or enter a support ticket at www.radford.edu/itonestop.