How to Assign a Graded Discussion to All Students

  • First, create a new forum.
  • Navigate to Discussion and Private Messages (Figure 1). 
  • Select “Manage.” 

Figure 1

  • Click “Forums” from the left Forum Admin panel.
  • Click “Add” (Figure 2). 

Figure 2

  • Provide a name for your forum (Figure 3).
  • Select a category from the drop-down menu.
    • The description is usually brief.
    • Instructions and expectations for the forum will usually be provided by the instructor in the Topic area.
  • Modify the settings as necessary.
  • Forum Type: “Reply only” allows the instructor to create a topic, and students can only reply to the topic.
    • In most cases, that will allow the instructor to keep an organized structure to their discussions and make it possible to see students’ contributions in a threaded view vs. having multiple topics created by students and having to “click around” to view their contributions.
  • Under Allow Access, select “All Site Participants” to enable access to all students. 
  • Click on “Update.”
    Figure 3