Upgrade to Blackboard 7 - Discussion Board forum options
When using the discussion board, an instructor first has to create a forum by clicking the Add Forum button. The following forum settings are available in Blackboard 7:
- Allow anonymous posts: gives students the option to post anonymously. This is a good option to enable for personal or sensitive discussion topics.
- Allow author to remove own posts - All posts: students can delete their posts, even if others have replied to their post. Deleting the post deletes all replies as well.
- Allow author to remove own posts - Only posts with no replies: students can delete their posts, but only if no one has replied to their post.
- Allow author to modify own published posts: students can modify their posts at any time.
- Allow file attachments: students can attach files such as images or word documents. It is important to enable this if you want to use the discussion board as a file exchange area.
- Allow members to create new threads: students can initiate new discussion topics within a forum. If this is not checked, students can only "reply".
- Allow members to subscribe to threads: this option is currently not working - we're working with Blackboard to resolve the issue.
- Allow members to rate posts: students can rate each other's posts on a 1-5 scale.
- Force moderation of posts: if enabled, a designated moderator or the instructor needs to approve each post before it is published.
- Grade - Grade forum: creates a gradebook entry for the forum, and creates a new Grade button for the instructor.
The Grade button brings up a roster of students who have access to the forum. The roster lists the number of posts for each student, and has a Grade button for each student.
Clicking the Grade button for a given student will bring up all of the student's posts to the forum on a single page. A box at the top of the page allows you to enter a grade for the student's participation in the forum. It's important to click the Submit button next the grade box to actually record the grade.
- Grade - Grade threads: grading is enabled on a per-thread basis. If this option is chosen, students cannot also be allowed to create new threads. Whenever a new thread is created, the instructor has the option to enable grading for the new thread.
For new threads where grading has been enabled, a new gradebook column is created and a Grade button appears next to the thread listing.
A separate document for instructors and students describes the general redesign of the discussion board in Blackboard 7: Discussion Board redesign.