Create Brightspace Discussions

Create Brightspace Discussions

View instructions as a PDF: Create Brightspace Discussions

Discussion boards provide a space within Brightspace courses in which instructors and learners can interact in threaded, text-based conversations. Instructors can create a discussion forum and topic for learners to ask questions, discuss course materials, and collaborate on ideas for projects. 

Access Discussions

  1. To access Discussions, select Discussions on the Course Navbar.
Select Discussions on the Course navbar.

Note: Discussions can also be created through Content by accessing a module and selecting Upload/Create. Select New Discussions from the drop-down menu.

Access Add quicklink to a discussion topic for more information.

Create a Discussion Forum through the Discussion Tool

  1. Begin by creating a Forum to organize your Discussion Topics. On the Discussion page, under Discussion List, select New then select New Forum. Note: Students cannot post to Forums. Once a forum is created a topic must be created within it for students to be able to post threads. Creating a Topic is discussed later in this document.
Select New. Select New Forum.
  1. On the New Forum page, under the Properties tab, enter a Title for the forum. Instructors can choose to have one forum for the entire course duration with multiple topics within it or create a forum for each unit, week or specific course content. Select Create a new topic in this forum with the same title to automatically create the topic when saving the forum.
Screenshot of New Forum creation, with title and "Create new topic" option selected.
  1. Enter a Description of the forum. This should be a general description of the forum and not where questions should be placed for students to answer. Questions and prompts for students should be placed within the topic.

Under Options, select additional settings for the Forum. Please note that any setting at the Forum level will override any settings in the topic within the forum.

For example, if a Forum is hidden from users but the topic is available within that same forum, both the forum AND the topic will be hidden.  DOES LMS Support recommends setting specific restrictions within the topic rather than the Forum to reduce unforeseen issues.

Screenshot of Discussion description text entry box.
  1. Under the Restrictions tab, the forum can be hidden from users. Availability Dates can be set to restrict the entire forum and the topics within it.  Please note that hiding a forum from users supersedes Availability dates and the forum will not be accessible to learners. 
Display of Forum Restrictions Tab.

Release Conditions can be set for the forum and additional Group and Section Restrictions can be applied.

Release Condition settings for New Forum.

Access Release Conditions for more information.

Access Groups for more information.

  1. Select Save and Close to complete the forum creation process. Select Save and Add Topic to be brought directly into the create topic settings for this forum.
Select Save and Close to hold settings.

Create a Topic

  1. The topic is where the discussion will take place within a forum. To create a topic once a forum is created, select the drop-down arrow to the right of the Forum Name and select Add Topic.
Select downward arrow. Select Add Topic.
  1. On the New Topic page, enter a Topic Title. The associated Forum is displayed immediately under the Topic Title. If you want to move the topic into another forum, select Change Forum.
A screenshot of a Discussion Topic Title entry field and Change Forum link.

By default, a discussion topic is not graded. Select the Ungraded box to set points and connect it to the Grade book.

A screenshot of the "Grade Out of" box and Grade Book setting.
  1. In the Description box, enter the discussion prompts and instructions for the students. Use the Insert Stuff Button to add additional documents and media.
A screenshot of Discussion questions in the Description text entry box.

For more information on entering content, access Brightspace Editor.

Availability Dates & Conditions

  1. Set a Start Date and an End Date for the discussion topic. The Start and End Date is the timeframe during which students can post a thread within the topic. If no Start and End Date is set, it will default to “Always Available”.
Availability Dates and Conditions settings.

Once a Start and End Date is entered, the ability to restrict posting before or after that date appears below each date. Select Visible with access restricted to see further settings for either Start Date or End Date. 

Visible with access restricted settings.

 

A screenshot of additional availability restriction settings.
  • Visible with access restricted – Learners will see the topic but cannot access it.
  • Visible with submission restricted – Learners will see the topic, be able to click into it and see previously posted threads but cannot submit any new threads.
  • Hidden – Learners will not be able to see the topic.
  • Add availability dates to Calendar – Learners will be able to see the Start and End Dates of the topic on their class calendar.
  1. Release Conditions allow instructors the ability to set criteria for the release of a topic. For example, you can require a learner to submit a post to an Introduce Yourself topic before having access to any further topics on the Discussion page. Select Add Release Conditions. Select Create New or Add Existing if you have created previous criteria.
Add Release Conditions button. Select Create New or Add Existing.

For more information access Release Conditions.

  1. Under Group and Section Restrictions, instructors can restrict access to a topic by creating groups within Brightspace. Select Manage Restrictions to apply those restrictions. Please note that Groups must first be created within Brightspace to access this setting.
A screenshot of the Manage Restrictions link.

Access Groups for more information.

Post & Completion

  1. The default Topic setting is Default Participation, which means that learners can see all threads from other learners before making a post of their own.
A screenshot of Post and Completion settings.

Additional settings:

• Allow learners to hide their name from other learners – Allows learners to post anonymously to other learners while instructors can still identify who wrote each post.

• Learners must start a thread before they can view or reply to other threads – Learners will not see other learners’ threads until they have posted within a topic themselves.

• Posts must be approved before they display in a topic – This is moderation of posts. The default moderator would be the instructor unless otherwise assigned.

Evaluation & Feedback

  1. Under Evaluation and Feedback, instructors can attach Rubrics for grading.
Evaluation and Feedback settings

If the topic is graded, instructors can Evaluate Posts by selecting Allow evaluation of individual posts, to set points per thread within the topic. If this setting is chosen, the Calculation Method must be set. Additionally, instructors can allow learners to rate the posts of other learners, based on a five-star scale. Post ratings appear in the upper right corner of each thread, if selected.

Access Calculation Method for more information.

  1. Once all settings are entered, make sure that the topic is set to Visible so that students can see and access the topic. Select Save and Close to retain all changes.
A screenshot of the Save and Close button and Visible setting toggle.

Edit a Discussion Topic

  1. To edit a topic, select the drop-down arrow to the right of the Topic Name. Select Edit.
A screenshot of Discussion Topic editing option.

Access Manage Discussion forums and topics for more information.

Access Create a discussion forum and associated topic for more information

For more information and assistance, please email Department of Online Education and Support - Learning Management System Support at LMS.faculty@jjay.cuny.edu