Creating a New Forum in the Blackboard LEARN Discussions Area

Step-By-Step

1. Log into LEARN and access your course
2. Click on the Discussions link, located in your course’s left-hand navigation bar
3. The Discussion Board page will list any existing forums, which instructors create to organize conversation topics. By default, students are not permitted to create their own forums, though you may change this setting, if needed.
4. To create a new discussion board forum, click Create Forum:

   

5. From the “Create Forum” page, enter your forum’s name, along with a brief description on the topic you would like your class to discuss within the forum.
6. Next, set availability preferences, including any date and time restrictions
7. Finally, update any forum settings as needed. From the “Forum Settings” section, you can choose whether participants must create a thread in order to view other threads in the forum, whether you would like to grade the forum, and which additional features students may access. Note that enabling grading on a discussion forum will reveal additional options for configuring due dates and grading rubrics.

   

8. Once you have set your preferences, click Submit

When your forum has been submitted, you will return to the Discussion Board page, where a green success message should appear to confirm that your new forum has been created. By default, the newest forum will appear at the bottom of the forum list.

To view any responses within your forum, or to add a response of your own, click on the teal-colored forum name. Student responses will be listed on the forum page as soon as they have posted. You can create a new comment by clicking Create thread, or comment on a student’s response by clicking on the thread, then selecting Reply.

If you have any questions about viewing or managing student grade details, please contact the Instructional Technology department at 215-895-2314 or lebowintech@drexel.edu.