Add a Discussion Forum

1. Turn editing on.
   
   
2. Click the "Add an activity or resource" menu in the section where you want the forum to live.
   
3. There are tabs at the top of this panel. This screen shows all the actiities and resources. Select one by clicking the icon for "Forum" or another activity or resource you want to add. Notice the little "i" gives a text description of the type of activity. Clicking the star creates a new tab with all of your favorites.
   

1. Forum: Give the Forum a name. It should be something descriptive- what are they discussing?
2. Choose a forum type. For most purposes, a standard forum is fine. For some remote instruction a Q and A forum could also be effective. Check out our page on forum types and uses for more information.
3. Write a forum description.
   
   • These are your instructions for the forum. What do you want to students to write about? How many times should they post? Are they required to respond to their peers? Do you want them to add links, media, or file attachments to their posts?
   • 
4. Choose a subscription option.
   
   • Being subscribed to a forum means that you get an email every time someone posts. 
   • By default this is set to Optional, and that is often a good choice. It means that students are not initially subscribed, but they can opt in. If your goal is to create a space for active online discussion, you might want to consider using Forced subscription instead.
   • For more information, check out our page on subscription options.
5. Check other options. Take a look at the other settings, but most of them can be ignored!
6. Click save and return to course at the bottom.
   
7. You'll see the link to your forum on the main course page. Click it to enter the forum, or use the icons to make any changes.
   • Click Edit to update; click, hold, and drag on the crosshair to move; or Edit > "Delete" to delete.
8. Start the first discussion. Click the title of your forum to open it and add the first thread.  You can also instruct your students to go ahead and add the first discussion topic themselves.
   
   
• The forum at this point is an empty vessel. 
• Your students can add a new discussion topic (or thread), or you can. 
• One standard forum can contain multiple discussion topics for different conversations.

Add files and folders