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Discussions

Discussions allow for a structured debate in itslearning. The discussions are string-based. This means that the users answer each other's contributions just as in a verbal debate.

You can select who can edit, add posts and add moderators.

Why use discussions?

You can, for example, use this tool to create discussions about a certain subject in a course. It is easy to create discussions in itslearning, but you should also make sure that the participants use the discussion tool. In most cases it is a good idea to begin a couple of threads yourself that can kick-start the discussion. In these threads, you can add questions that you think will engage the participants. You can refer to certain pages or paragraphs in the text book, links to Internet sites, TV programmes or similar. This provides the participants with some background information about what is to be discussed. A couple of good starting threads attract the participants to the discussion, and soon they start adding threads themselves.

Discussions and netiquette

Internet discussions often get heated, more heated than in a classroom debate. There are several reasons for this.

In a written discussion, you cannot see expressions (for example, facial expressions) or hear the tone of voice from the other participants. This makes it difficult to use irony as you normally might in a classroom context. As an alternative, it is common to use emoticons.

An emoticon, often called a "smiley", is a sequence of ordinary characters you can find on your computer keyboard. Emoticons are not only used in discussions, but also in e-mail, chat, SMS and other forms of communication using text and screen. The most popular emoticons are the smiling faces that people use to say "Don't take what I just wrote too seriously". For example: 

:-) 

If you don't see that it represents a smiling face, tip your head to the left and look at it again. The colon represents the eyes, the dash represents the nose, and the right parenthesis represents the mouth. There are also simplified versions of emoticons that skip the "nose". The Rich-text editor has a set of smileys that fits perfectly for discussions.

More examples:

You can see more examples in the Wikipedia article about Emoticons

Moderating

To prevent discussions from getting out of hand, it is smart to set up a set of rules that the participants need to follow in discussions. An alternative for people that cannot behave is to remove their access to the discussions. This is done by clicking Edit in the discussions, and then Permissions and Select who can add posts and start new threads. See also the How-tos section below (Managing discussion permissions under Adding and editing discussions). If some posts contain unwanted entries, the discussion moderators can delete the entry. For a complete step by step guide, see the How-tos (Deleting a post under Adding and editing discussions).

Adding discussions 

When you add a new discussion, you can select whether or not to allow anonymous posts. This means that the participants in a course can write entries without revealing their names. Their names are replaced with Anonymous. When adding a post, the participants select whether they want to show their real name or remain anonymous.

You can select whether to use categories from the Use categories option.

If you check Yes in the Use categories option, you can enter your own category names and add and delete categories. You can also change the category colours. There are several default categories listed, but these can easily be changed and customized. In the example below, a teacher has added a discussion in a newly created course. You can see that a "Who am I?" category is added. The participants can use this category to present themselves.

• Use the icon to delete categories. Click the icon and the category is deleted.
• Use the icon to change the category colour. Click the icon, and click on the preferred colour in the pop-up.
•  

If you check the Post anonymously box, your name is not shown when you add the entry. If the discussion has categories enabled, you must select a category from the Category drop-down list.

We have also introduced avatars or personal pictures in the posts. Avatars make the posts more recognisable and personal. The picture is shown to the left of your post and is taken from your profile. You can upload a new picture by clicking Your settings >> Change details >> Change picture file. Anonymous users and users who haven't added a profile picture are provided with a standard profile picture by itslearning.

Replying to posts

You have two options when replying to posts. You can either use the Reply with quote link in the post to which you are replying to. A quote of the post to which you are replying is included in your post:

To post a reply without quoting a previous post, click Post reply.

How-tos

Adding and editing discussions

Adding a discussion

1. Enter a course or community.
2. Click Add in the navigation tree.
3. Click Discussion in the work area.
4. Fill in the following fields:
   • Title: Enter a discussion title.
   • Description: Describe the contents or the aim of the discussion.
   • Allow anonymous posts: Check the box to allow the participants to add anonymous posts.
   • Use categories: If you check Yes, you enable categories in the discussion.
   • Active: Set the activation status
5. Click Save

Editing a discussion

1. Enter a course or community.
2. Click the discussion you want to edit.
3. Click the settings cogwheel in the top right corner and select Edit from the drop-down.
4. Edit the discussion.
5. Click Save.

Editing a post

Course administrators are allowed to edit all posts. Regular participants are allowed to edit a post within 15 minutes of posting.

1. Enter a course or community.
2. Click a discussion.
3. Find the post you want to edit and click Edit.
4. Make you changes and click Save.

Deleting a discussion

1. Enter a course or community.
2. Click the discussion you want to delete.
3. Click the settings cogwheel in the top right corner and select Delete from the drop-down.
4. Confirm by clicking Delete again.

Deleting a post

1. Enter a course or community.
2. Click the discussion in which you want to delete a post.
3. Click the post you want to delete.
4. Click Delete post.
5. Confirm by clicking Delete.

Managing discussion permissions

1. Enter a course.
2. Click the discussion you want to adjust permissions to.
3. Click the settings cogwheel in the top right corner and select Permissions from the drop-down (read more about permissions). Here you have four options:

Select who can add posts and start new threads

1. Click Select who can add posts and start new threads.
2. Under 'Select from among', choose Participants or Groups.
3. Check the name of the participants or groups to which you want to grant permissions.
4. Click
5. Click Save.

Select who can view reports

1. Click Select who can view reports.
2. Under 'Select from among', choose Participants or Groups.
3. Check the name of the participants or groups to which you want to grant permissions.
4. Click
5. Click Save.

Select who can edit the discussion and delete inappropriate posts

1. Click Select who can edit the discussion and delete inappropriate posts.
2. Under 'Select from among', choose Participants or Groups.
3. Check the name of the participants or groups to which you want to grant permissions.
4. Click
5. Click Save.

View a detailed overview of current permissions

1. Click View a detailed overview of current permissions.

Working with discussions

Adding new threads

1. Enter a course or community.
2. Click the discussion you want to add a thread to.
3. Click Add new thread.
4. Enter a subject. If you are in a discussion with categorisation, select a category from the drop-down list.
5. Enter your post in the text field.
6. Click Save.

Replying to posts

1. Enter a course or community.
2. Enter the discussion in which you want to reply to a post.
3. Click on the entry you want to reply to.
4. Click Post reply or Reply with quote.
5. Enter your reply in the text field.
6. Click Save.

Note: If you want to quote the post you reply to you can click Quote.

Reports

Reports are available for participants the teacher has specified in the permissions (see below). In the report, you can see the number of threads and comments the participants in the course have made.

1. Enter a course or community.
2. Click the discussion you want to edit.
3. Click the Reports tab.

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