Making the Most of Discussions
WORKSHOP DESCRIPTION
Audience
For instructors who have completed the introductory Getting Started workshop or
similar orientation training.
Format
Face-to-face, hands-on workshop
Length
2 to 3 hours
Overview
This workshop provides a hands-on introduction to the Discussion Board tool.
Participants will first use the tool as a student, becoming familiar with how it will
appear to their own students.
Then, turning to the instructor perspective, they will learn to use the tool at each
point in the lifecycle of discussions—from creating forums and threads to
moderating, managing, and grading discussions. Along the way, they will discuss
pedagogical and practical issues related to using discussions in online courses.
© 2010 Blackboard Inc.
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Workshop Description
Section Name
The Student Experience
Topics
 The Discussion Board
 Within a Forum
 Changing the Displayed Threads
 Within a Thread
 Replying to Posts
 Rating Posts
 Creating Threads
 Collecting Posts
 Filtering Collected Posts
 Searching Posts
 Best Practice: Set Etiquette Guidelines
Creating Discussions
 The Discussion Board
 Creating Forums
 Creating Threads
 Allowing Email Subscriptions
 Adding a Forum to a Course Area
 Best Practice: Crafting Effective Questions
Moderating Discussions
 The Art of Moderating
 Assigning Forum Roles
 Moderating Posts
 Changing Thread Status
Managing Discussions
 Editing Forums
 Copying Forums
 Organizing Forums and Threads
 Tagging Threads
© 2010 Blackboard Inc.
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Workshop Description
Section Name
Grading Discussions
Topics
 The Grading Process
 Assigning Forum Grades
 Assigning Thread Grades
 Disabling Grading
 Emailing Students When Assigning Grades
 Adding a Forum to a Course Area
 Best Practice: Define Grading Criteria
Workshop Wrap Up
 Review of Key Concepts
 Spotlight on YOUR Course
After completing this workshop, participants will be able to:
 Create discussion forums and threads, selecting forum settings based on
pedagogical goals and grading requirements
 Describe techniques for crafting effective questions and encouraging
participation
 Explain ways to organize the Discussion Board
 Create, reply to, rate, search, and tag posts
 Select which type of threads to display
 Collect posts for sorting, filtering, and printing
 Set appropriate discussion etiquette guidelines
 Describe techniques for the art of moderating
 List the four steps to developing successful online discussions
 Describe the forum roles and assign users to roles
 Use the Moderation Queue to monitor discussion posts and distribute the
workload
 Describe the options for a thread’s status and identify situations when it is
appropriate to change the status
 Edit, copy, and organize forums
© 2010 Blackboard Inc.
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Workshop Description
 Explain the grading process from the student and instructor perspectives
 Email students during the grading process
 Add a forum to a course area to be used accessed alongside other
course content
 Define grading criteria and assign forum and thread grades
© 2010 Blackboard Inc.
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Workshop Description