Discussion Boards

Blackboard's Discussion Boards are available in all courses and are accessible by all students. 

Blackboard's Discussion Board allows students to discuss and share ideas and information without requiring all participants to be online at the same time. Discussion Board conversations are logged and organized with conversations grouped into threads that contain a main posting heading and all related replies.

Discussion Boards may be graded / ungraded.

In order for students to post threads (messages) to the Discussion Board, you must first create a forum on a specific topic

How Do I Create a Forum? 

1. Login to your Blackboard course and select Discussion Board from left-hand side menu tab (can also access from the expanded Control Panel under Course Tools, Discussion Board)
2. Click “Create Forum” button near the top left-hand side
3. Type in a Name(required) for the forum and type in any instructions or text in Description
4. Choose options for “Available” or “Date Time restrictions”
5. Select additional options in the Forum Settings area if desired
6. Click Submit

Instructors Please Note: Unless you specifically allow students to edit their own posts this option is not available. The settings are located under Forum Settings "Allow students to edit own posts" and/or "Delete only those with no replies"

How do I Create an Initial Thread?

Now that you have created the forum, you may create an initial thread to start the conversation and instruct the students to “Reply” to the thread with their posts.

1. Select Discussion Board forum name created above
2. Click the “Create Thread” button near the top left-hand side
3. Type a name in the Subject box and thread (question) text in Message box
4. Click Submit

Printable PDF Instructions