Ultra Course - Create a discussion board

Create Discussion on the Course Content Page

You can create a discussion directly on the Course Content page so students can view it in context with other materials by clicking on the plus sign, select create and select Discussion.

Create Discussion in the Discussion area using the navigation bar

Go to the Discussions tab on the navigation bar to open the course discussions page. From here, you can select the plus sign in the upper-right corner and select Add Discussion from the menu. 

Add a title for the discussion

A.   . If you don't add a title, "New Discussion" and the date will appear as the title for the discussion.

B.   Use the text editor to include instructions and expectations.

C.   Students can't see a discussion until you choose to show it (default).  You can create all of your content ahead of time and select what you want students to see based on your schedule.  You also have the option of setting availability conditions based on date, time and performance on other items in the course gradebook.

D.   Select discussion options.  Select the Discussion Settings icon (gear) to open a panel with options for the discussion:

• Display on the course content page: Select Display on the course content page to include the discussion on the course content page with other content items.
  
  
• Post first:  Select to hide discussion activity from students until they respond to the discussion. When you want to use Post first with groups, be sure to select Post first before you assign the groups.
  
  
• Grade discussion:  You have the option to make the discussion count for a grade.  When you choose to grade a discussion, more options appear such as the due date and maximum points.  The maximum points apply to one or more posts made by a student.  When you enable grading for a discussion, a column is automatically created in the gradebook.

• Align with goals:  Select align with goals to search for available goals.  After you make the discussion visible, students can view the goals.

• Assign to groups: Assign students to a discussion group. You have the ability to grade from the discussion  or the gradebook.