1.4 Using the Discussion Board
In online courses, the Discussion Board is often considered the heart of the online classroom. It is the place your students check first when they log into a course. It is the place where students connect with their instructor and their peers. The Discussion Board is the difference between an online, eLearning course and a correspondence course.
Both our accreditation board, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC), and our quality assurance program, Quality Matters, agree that student-to-student interaction is vital to the online classroom. While Blackboard offers many tools for student-to-student interaction, the Discussion Board remains the most popular, and easiest-to-use, tool for this function.
Both our accreditation board, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC), and our quality assurance program, Quality Matters, agree that student-to-student interaction is vital to the online classroom. While Blackboard offers many tools for student-to-student interaction, the Discussion Board remains the most popular, and easiest-to-use, tool for this function.
Basic monitoring and "reply" functions
To access the Discussion Board in your course, click the Discussions link on the Course Menu.
A list of discussion forums appears on your screen. Click the name of the discussion forum that you would like to enter.
A list of discussion threads appear on your screen. Discussion threads that have unread posts appear in bold type. Click the subject of a discussion thread to enter the thread and look at the posts.
To reply to a post, click the Reply link at the bottom of the post.
The content editor will open. You will notice that the content editor is the same for all Blackboard tools, including the Discussion Board, Announcements, Items, and even Assignments. Type your message in the big white content editor box, then click Submit.
To go back to the discussion thread list for your chosen forum, click the OK button at the bottom right of the page.
Creating threads on the Discussion Board
To create a new thread on a discussion board, enter a discussion forum and click the Create Thread button at the top of the page.
A screen will open with the Content Editor. From here, creating a thread is just like replying to one. Type your message, then click Submit when you are finished.
More about the Content Editor
The Content Editor is one of Blackboard's most robust tools. You will use the Content Editor more often than any other tool. It is more than just a text editor. It can embed pictures and movies. It can record Lecture videos. It can even make tables.
If you do not see the advanced features of the Content Editor, click the arrows on the far right of the editor to open them.
If you do not see the advanced features of the Content Editor, click the arrows on the far right of the editor to open them.
Here is a map to the advanced features of the Content Editor. Your students have these same features for their assignment and discussion submissions.
Supplemental Resources
- Blackboard's Library: Tutorials for Discussion Board tools.
Next Steps
When you are ready, move on to Section 1.5 Chapter 1 Activities