Depending on your modality (Online or Ground), you may be required to answer graded discussion questions.
The Forums tab allows for easy communication with your instructor and other students. To access the Forums, select Forums in the Connect tab on the Navigation Menu.
There are three types of forums:
- Discussion Question,
- Private Forum, and
- Questions to Instructor Forum.
You will often be required to answer discussion questions (DQs) as part of your grade. There are a few different ways you can access your Discussion Questions: directly from the Dashboard’s Weekly Calendar or from the Navigation Menu’s Path, Planner, or Forums under Connect.
If you access a forum topic via the Weekly Calendar, Path, or Planner, then you will see the option to Add a Post. If you access a forum topic via the Forums in the Navigation Menu, you will see the option to Reply to the post.
Add a DQ Post through the Path
If you select a Discussion Question from the Dashboard’s Weekly Calendar or Planner, you will be directed to where the DQ is in the Path. You can also go to the Path directly from the Navigation Menu.
Once in the Path tab, click on your Topic for the current week. After clicking on your Topic, select Tasks.
In Tasks, click on the Discussion Question to which you would like to respond. After you have selected a discussion question, you will be able to see the content of the question. To reply to the discussion question, click Add A Post.
Once you have typed your response, you may either click Post Reply, Save as a Draft, or Cancel. When you save your post as a draft, it is only visible to you. It will be available for you to edit for the next 24 hours.
After clicking Post Reply, you will see your official response with a time stamp.
Reply to Forum Topics
Begin by selecting Forum under Connect from the Navigation Menu.
From the LMS Forums, you can reply to topics in the Discussion Question forum, the Private Forum, and the Questions to Instructor Forum.
After locating the topic, you want to reply to, read the Description of the topic, and then select Reply under the topic Description.
Once you have typed your response, you may either click Post Reply, Save as a Draft, or Cancel. When you save your post as a draft, it is only visible to you. It will be available for you to edit for the next 24 hours.
After clicking Post Reply, you will see your official response with a time stamp.
Reply to a Classmate's Post
When answering discussion questions, you will often be required to respond to classmates’ posts for participation. Begin by accessing the classmate’s post that you would like to respond to.
After you click on a DQ response, you will be able to see the content of the response. To submit a response, click Reply.
Once you have typed your response, you may either click Post Reply, Save as a Draft, or Cancel. When you save your post as a draft, it is only visible to you. It will be available for you to edit for the next 24 hours.
Once submitted, your post will appear underneath your classmate’s post with the time stamp!
Post Icons
You can determine if a post was made by your instructor, if it has been graded, or if it was marked as substantive by the following icons:
Post was made by instructor
Post has been graded
Post has been marked as substantive
Tracking Participation
To track how many responses or posts you have made for your discussion questions, begin by selecting Connect from the Navigation Menu.
Then, click on Forums.
By default, you will be taken to the Discussion Question forum. Here it will provide you with a list of all your discussion questions for the course. In the My Posts column, it will provide you with the number of posts and responses made for each discussion question.
Deleting Posts
Once you post a reply for a discussion question, you will have the options to Edit or Delete your post. You will not be able to edit or delete your post if:
- Your post has been graded by the instructor,
- Your post has been marked as substantive, or
- A student or instructor has replied to your post.
- The post was made over 24 hours prior.
The Private Forum allows for private communication between yourself and the instructor or a classmate. You may ask questions in the Private Forum that you wish for only the instructor to see. Notice: After your course ends, you will still have access to initiate a new discussion in the Private forum.
To initiate a discussion with an instructor or classmate, click New Topic in the upper right-hand corner.
After selecting the student or staff you would like to contact, you must enter a Title and Description; if desired, you may attach a file to your message. To send the message, click Submit.
You may Edit or Delete a topic if it has not been replied to.
The Questions to Instructor Forum allows for class-wide communication. Topics in this forum are visible to all instructors and students in the class. Notice: After your course ends, you will still have access to initiate a new discussion in the Questions to Instructor forum.
To initiate a discussion, click New Topic in the upper right-hand corner.
You must enter a Title and Description; if desired, you may attach a file to your message. To send the message, click Submit.
You may also Edit or Delete a topic if it has not been replied to.
