Add a new discussion topic

The Discussions tool in D2L has a hierarchy.  This goes from Forums to Topics to Threads to Replies.  Forums are the categories where multiple discussion Topics can be stored. Topics are the areas where students and instructors can interact with each other. Threads and Replies are the actual posts made by students and instructors.

To create a discussion Topic, navigate to your course and click on the Discussions tab. Then, click on New -> New Topic.

There will be a few different fields for you to enter information into:

1. Topic Title: Enter in a title for the topic.
2. Forum: Discussions must be attached to a discussion forum, or category, for your discussion topic. If you’d like to attach this discussion topic to an already existing forum, select it from the “Choose a forum” drop-down menu. You can also create a new forum by clicking the “Create Forum” link.
3. Grade Out Of: If this is a graded discussion, enter in the amount of total points this topic will be worth.
4. Due Date: You can provide students a due date for the discussion—we recommend using this for the date students should submit their first post to the discussion topic. This will make the discussion appear in the student’s Work-to-Do widget and create a calendar item reminding them of when to turn it in.
5. Description: Enter in the instructions for the discussion topic.
6. Option Menus Available (see below for detailed information).

If you click on the Availability Dates & Conditions menu, you can add a start and end date to the discussion, set release conditions for students, or assign the discussion to a group if you’ve created any groups. Note that after an end date has passed, students may not be able to see or submit anything to the discussion topic depending on the settings you choose.

If you click to open the Post & Completion menu, you can allow users to hide their names (post anonymously). You can require users to make a post first before they can view orreply toy any other students. You can also set it so the post must be approved by you before it’s posted publicly to the class.

In the Evaluation & Feedback menu, you can attach a rubric to the discussion topic. You can also allow other students to “rate” their fellow students’ discussion posts.

The default is to provide one “score” for all of a user’s posts. By checking “Allow assessment of individual posts,” you can provide a “score” for each time a user posts to the discussion topic. D2L will calculate the overall topic score based on the calculation option you choose. This might be useful if you have students post multiple times to the same topic.

Once you’ve utilized the settings you want, click “Save and Close” and your new discussion topic will be created.