Creating a Discussion Forum and Topics

Use Discussions in VU Collaborate to facilitate online conversations, answer student questions, and support collaborative learning. This guide explains how to create a discussion forum, add topics, and configure discussion settings.

Discussion forums consist of three parts:

• Forum: Organises related discussion topics.
• Topic: Contains a discussion question or activity.
• Posts: The discussion itself, including threads and replies.

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Step One: Create a Discussion Forum

Forums organise related discussion topics. Create a forum first, then add one or more topics where students can post and reply.

Open Discussions

1. In your unit space select Communication > Discussions.
2. Select New > New Forum.

Enter Forum Details

1. Enter a Forum Title.
2. Add a Description to help students understand the purpose of the forum.
   Optional: Select Create a new topic in this forum with the same title to create a topic at the same time.
3. Select Save and Close.

 

Step Two: Create a Discussion Topic

Topics are where students post and participate in discussions.

1. From the Forum Title dropdown menu, select Add Topic.
2. Enter a Topic Title.
3. Enter a Description (instructions, discussion prompts, or expectations for student participation).
4. Select Save and Close.

 

Step Three: Configure Assessment Settings (optional)

To learn how to grade the discussion topic, see Assessing and Grading Discussions.  

If the discussion is assessed:

1. Enter the Grade Out Of points.
2. Select In Gradebook > Edit or Link to Existing.
3. Link an existing grade item or create a new one.
4. (Optional) Add a Due Date.

  

 

Step Four: Configure Availability (optional)

1. Expand Availability Dates & Conditions.
2. Add Start and End Dates

 

Step Five: Configure Participation (optional)

1. Expand Post & Completion to review settings
   1. Keep Default participation, or
   2. Select Learners must start a thread before they can view or reply to other threads.

 

Step Six: Configure Assessment & Feedback (optional)

If the discussion is assessed:

1. Expand Evaluation & Feedback.
2. Select Add Rubric, to locate and select a rubric, see our guide Linking a Rubric to an Assessment Dropbox Folder.
3. Select Save and Close.

 

Step Seven: Subscribe to Discussion Activity (optional)

1. Subscribe to recieve notification of student participation via:

• Discussion Forum: from the forum dropdown menu, select Subscribe.
• Discussion Topic: from the topic dropdown menu, select Subscribe.
• Topic Thread: Next to the topic thread title, select Subscribe. 

2. In the popup message Select Subscribe.