Discussions tool

Adding a Discussion Topic

A Topic is an area where discussions actually take place, that is, where students post and read messages. A forum may have multiple topics. 

The topic description can include images, as well as links to course files, to other areas of your ICON course, and to external websites.

1. If you haven’t yet created the forum, do so now (see Adding a Forum).  The forum will not display on the main Discussions page until you add at least one topic.
2. Click Add New Topic (to the right of the forum name).
3. Enter a topic title.
4. Enter a description (optional).

Note: ICON's built-in HTML editor offers formatting options and allows you to insert images and add links to content files, to other areas of your ICON course, and to external websites. Click the HTML Editor icon to open the HTML editor.

5. Select from the following settings (all are optional):



Allow Anonymous Messages	This setting applies to all topics within the forum, regardless of topic-level settings. Note that anonymous messages cannot be evaluated. Also, Instructor-Designers (only) can view an anonymous sender's name by clicking the Anonymous link in the preview pane at the bottom of an open message. The student Online help for ICON informs students that instructors have this capability.
Messages must be approved before being displayed	You will see topics with unapproved messages when you access the Discussion tool; you can approve these messages by clicking in the message view screen.
Hide topic	If necessary, click Show forum visibility options. If you select Hide this topic, the topic will remain hidden from students until Topic is always visible is selected again. You could also select Topic is visible for a specific date range and specify a Start Date and/or End Date.
Lock topic	Students can view the forum but they cannot post any new messages. If you select Lock Topic, the topic will remain locked until Unlock topic is selected again. You could also select Unlock topic for a specific date range and specify a Start Date and/or End Date when students can post messages.

6. Click Save.  (You’ll add special release conditions, if any, after you save the topic.)  The topic will be listed under the forum name.
7. Click Forums and Topics List (top left) to return to the main Discussions page.  Now that you have added a topic, the forum and topic are displayed.
8. If you wish to restrict participation in the topic to members of a group or to students who have fulfilled a specified online task, see Restricting Participation in a Discussion Forum or Topic.

24 April 2008

Restricting Participation in Discussion Forums/Topics

You can restrict participation in discussions to members of a group you created using the Classlist Manage Groups or to members of a section (assuming your course includes multiple sections mapped into one course). You can also restrict access to students who have fulfilled a specified online task, such as viewing a content file. 

Students who don’t meet your specified requirements will not see the link to the restricted forum or topic.

Restricting Participation to Members of a Section or Group

Before you begin:

• If you wish to restrict access to a group and you haven't yet defined the group, do so now. The groups or sections already exist before you can set group or section restrictions for a forum or topic. (See Creating Groups).
• If you haven't yet created and saved the discussion forum and topic(s), do so now. (See Adding a Discussion Forum and  Adding a Discussion Topic). 

  Note: If you would prefer to have ICON automatically create discussion topics for you:

  1. Click Automatically Create Restricted Topics. 
  2. Select a Group Category and a Forum and click Create.  The name of each topic will be the name of the group type followed by the name of the group.

Now you’re ready to set up restricted access:

1. Click Discussions in the NavBar.
2. Click Group Restrictions.
3. Select the desired group or section from the Group Category: dropdown list (top).
4. Select the desired forum from the Forum: dropdown list.
5. Use the checkboxes to indicate which groups or sections can access the restricted forums (gray backgrounds) and/or topics (white backgrounds).
   
6. Click Save.

Important notes:

• If you want to restrict access to a certain group (or groups) within a section—but not to the entire section—be sure the boxes in the Section column are unchecked. Otherwise, ICON will allow access to all students in the section, not just to students in the group(s) you selected.
• If you restrict access to a forum and a particular topic in that forum, students will need to meet both sets of requirements (for the forum and the topic) in order to access the topic.

Restricting Participation to Students Who Have Completed an Online Task

1. Create and save the discussion forum and/or topic (see Adding a Discussion Forum and Adding a Discussion Topic).
2. On the main Discussions page (click Discussions in the NavBar), click the  Edit Forum icon next to the forum name or topic name.
3. Click on the Restrictions Tab.
4. Click Create and Attach under Release Conditions.
5. Select the Condition Type from the dropdown list, and then select the specific course component the student must have completed.
6. Click Create.

Important note: If you enter more than one selective release condition for a forum or topic (e.g., viewing a content module and submitting a dropbox assignment), students will need to satisfy both of the conditions (not just one) in order to access that forum or topic.

28 October 2009

Modifying Discussion Forums or Topics

To modify a Discussion Forum or Topic:

1. Click Discussions in the Navbar.
2. Click Edit Topic next to the forum or topic name.
3. Enter your modifications:
• To modify the Anonymous Messages setting for a forum, select (or de-select) the Allow anonymous messages checkbox. The new setting will apply to only to topics you create after you you change the setting, not to topics you've already created.
• To modify availability or release settings, use the Availability section, or click on Release Conditions. (See Restricting Participation in a Discussion Forum or Topic.)
• To change the way topics are assessed, click the Assessment tab.
• To delete a topic, click Delete (top right). Select the forum or topics and then click Delete Selected
  • NOTE: If a discussion forum or topic is deleted it is very unlikely that it can be restored.

28 October 2009

Locking a Discussion Forum or Topic

When you lock a forum or topic, students can view, but not add or reply to, messages.

1. Click Discussions in the NavBar.
2. Click the Edit icon for the forum or topic you wish to lock.
3. On the Properties tab, click Show locking options (if necessary) and click Lock forum or Lock topic.
   • NOTE: Locked forums or topics will have this icon next to them.

The forum or topic will remain locked until you select Unlock forum or Unlock topic.

You could also select Unlock forum or Unlock topic for a specific date range and specify a Start Date and/or End Date when students can post messages.

28 October 2009

Adding a Discussion Message

You can include images, as well as links to course files, to other areas of your ICON course, and to external websites. You can also use "pinned" messages to post announcements, rules, or any other messages you want to appear at the top of the message list in a topic.

1. Click Discussions in the NavBar.
2. Click the Topic name.
3. Click Compose (top).
4. Type your Subject.
5. Type your message in the message window.
• To add an image, click the Insert Image icon. Then either click My Computer and Choose File to search for an image on your computer OR click Course Offering Files and Browse to search for an image on your ICON site. Double click the image filename and then click Upload. Type a text description of the image (for accessibility) and then click OK. Click Insert, type the rest of your message, and then click Post.
• To add a link, click the Insert QuickLink icon. From the Category dropdown menu, choose URL and type or paste in the URL OR choose an ICON tool from the Category dropdown list to link to an internal ICON page. Then type a caption (the words participants will click on). Choose how you would like to open the link: Whole window means the content will fill the entire window (NavBar, etc., will not be visible), Same Frame means it will open in the current window with NavBars still showing, and New window means it will open in a separate browser window. Click Insert on both popup windows to close them.
6. Choose from among the following—optional—settings:
   
   

Pin your message to the top of the topic message list	Select the Pin message checkbox. Pinned messages always appear at the top of the message list for the topic. In a threaded view (i.e., messages and associated replies), the thread following a pinned message appears as the first thread in the list.
Attach a file	Click Add a File, click Browse to locate the file you want to attach, double click on the file to attach it, click Add if you would like to attach more files, and then click Upload.
Post your message to multiple topics	1. Click the Add Topics button. (If the Add Topics button is not visible, click Show the message posting options.) 2. Select the topics you want to post the message to. 3. Click Insert.



7. Click Post to post the message now, or Save Draft to save the message without posting.

28 October 2009

Grading Discussion Messages

ICON will grade discussion messages based on criteria you define when you create a topic (an area in a forum where messages are posted and replied to). Similar to Quizzes or the Dropbox, you can associate Discussion topics with Gradebook items so that grades will automatically be transferred there.

To set up assessment criteria for a topic you have already created:

1. Click Discussions in the NavBar.
2. Click the Edit Topic icon to the right of the topic name.
3. Click on the Assessment tab.
4. If you have already created a gradebook item, select it from the Grade Item drop-down list. Otherwise, click New Grade Item and create a new item in the gradebook for the discussion topic. (See the Online Help section Creating a Grade Item.)
5. Enter the maximum points for the items.
6. If you want to assess each message separately, click on the Assess each message and automatically calculate the topic score and then select the calculation method from the dropdown list.
7. Click Save.

To grade an individual student's participation in a topic:

For a given student, you can assess each message in the topic individually, or you can assess the student's overall contribution to the topic.

1. Click Discussions in the NavBar.
2. Open the topic.
3. Click Assess.
4. Enter the message score or the topic score.
5. Click Save.

Important: If a student's messages are displayed across multiple pages, save each page before navigating to the next one.

24 April 2008

Viewing Participation Statistics

With the Statistics tool, you can view the number of messages each student has read and authored. You can also view statistics for each topic and export the statistics to a .csv file.

To view message board statistics:

1. Click Discussions in the NavBar.

2. Click Statistics (left).

3. The Users tab displays the number of messages authored and read by each student. You can also view the number of unapproved and graded messages for each student. Click on a student's name for a more detailed view that includes the student's Group and Section membership as well as the specific topics the student posted has to.

4. The Forums and Topics tab shows the number of messages in each topic, pinned messages (messages that appear at the top of a list), unapproved messages, and messages scored.

5. Click Export to CSV on one of these two tabs to export a file with these statistics.

26 May 2008

Changing Message Board Display Settings

ICON allows you to change the way messages appear to you personally and to students. For instance, you can specify whether you want to view messages in a preview pane and whether you want to see topic descriptions in the Message List.

To change the message board display options for all participants:

1. Click Discussions in the NavBar.
2. Click Settings (left) . The course-wide settings are under the Org Unit Settings section.
3. To allow Instructor/Designers or TA's to rate messages after they have been posted, select Messages can be rated.
4. To allow students to see the topic descriptions in the list of messages, select Topic Descriptions are displayed in the Message List.

To change your own personal message board display options:

1. Click Discussions in the NavBar.
2. Click Settings (left) and choose from the following settings under the Personal section:

Setting	Function
Show the discussion topics list	Topics list appears at the left of the message list and provides quick navigation between topics.
Show the search bar	Allows you to search for messages. You can also show or hide the search bar by clicking or on the action bar inside a topic.
Show the preview pane	Displays messages in a preview pane at the bottom of the screen instead of in a popup window.
Threaded or Un-threaded view	In threaded view, messages and their replies appear grouped together, while unthreaded messages are listed in the order posted. In unthreaded view, messages can be sorted by author, date, subject, message ID, or average rating.
Grid or Reading Style	- Grid style displays only the message subjects. To view the contents of the message, users must click on the message subject. - Reading style displays the entire messages.
Character Limits	Default is 50 characters per post message or reply.
Include Original Message in Reply	Displays message text in reply

Click Save.

28 October 2009