This guide walks you through what you need to know to create discussion forums and topics, grade discussion posts, and engage with your students.
A discussion is place where you, as an instructor, have the opportunity to establish presence by facilitating and engaging in conversations with students. Students can share thoughts about course materials, ask questions, post their work for peer feedback, or collaborate on assignments.
Brightspace uses specific terms to refer to different parts of the Discussions area:
How Do I Access Discussions?
You will find a link to the Discussions area in your course's navigation bar.
Why Would I Want to Create a Discussion Forum?
In Brightspace, you must have a discussion forum set up in your course before you can create a discussion topic. Also, discussion forums help organize your discussion topics.
This video, produced by Brightspace, walks you through setting up a Discussion forum in your course.
Note: Before creating Discussion Forums in your online course, please inform your Program Director and Technology-Enhanced Instruction (asktei@sjcme.edu).
Create a Discussion Forum (3 minutes)
Why Do I Want to Create a Discussion Topic?
A topic is where you and your students can add threads in response to a discussion prompt. You have the ability to add topics to a discussion forum, but students cannot create them.
Watch this video, produced by Brightspace, to create a Discussion Topic. Note: Discussions Topics must belong to a Discussion Forum. See the tab "Create a Discussion Forum" for more information.
Note: Before creating Discussion Topics in your online course, please inform your Program Director and Technology-Enhanced Instruction (asktei@sjcme.edu) because discussion prompts may exist elsewhere in your course (e.g. course materials), and any change to graded assessments should be approved by your Program Director.
Create a Discussion Topic (3 minutes)
Posting a New Thread to a Discussion Topic
Watch this video to learn how to post a new thread to a discussion topic.
Note: If you prefer written instructions, please either view the PDF underneath the video or in the Written Instructions box on the right-hand side of the page.
Post a New Thread (1.50 minutes)
Why would I reply to a thread in Discussions?
To respond to students' posts, you will need to reply to their threads.
Watch this video to learn how to reply to a student's post in Discussions.
Note: If you prefer written instructions, please view the PDF below the video or in the Written Instructions box on the right-hand side of the page.
Why Change Discussion View to Grid View?
This is a personal preference. Brightspace offers two views to see student posts in Discussions. The default view is Reading View, but some faculty prefer Grid View when viewing discussions because the layout is similar to an email setup. Here is more about Reading View and Grid View:
Reading View
In Reading View, you can see what the student has posted at first glance (depending on the length of the post - if it is a long post, you will need to click on "more" to see the entire post).
Grid View
In Grid View, you simply see the subject line of the student's post, so you will need to click directly on the subject line to view the entire post.
Watch this video, created by Justin Sparks, T.E.I.s Learning Management System Administrator, to learn more.
New Evaluation Experience in Discussions
Effective 12-1-21, Brightspace is updating the evaluation experience in Discussions.
In the new evaluation experience, you will find the grading process similar to what you experience when you grade an assignment in Dropbox. Please view the video below to learn more.
Note: If you prefer written instructions, please see printable PDF in the Written Instructions box on the right-hand side of the page and below the video.
Saint Joseph's College Grading Policy
When students submit an assignment, the instructor will grade it and give students feedback within 7 days, and they will respond to email within one business day unless they have notified the students within Brightspace about time away for travel or medical reasons. If the instructor will be gone for a period of time, students can expect that the assignment will be graded within 7 days of their return.
New Evaluation Experience in Discussions (effective 12-1-21) (1.5 minutes)
This page includes helpful information and resources for engaging students in Discussions in your online course. If you have any resources you would like to add, please email ldalfonso@sjcme.edu.
9 Student Engagement Strategies for Online Discussion Forums
More PDFs coming soon!
Have technical questions or concerns about these features? Email asktei@sjcme.edu.
For training, see below.
