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Discussion Board:
A re-designed discussion board is available in Blackboard beginning Summer 2008
Re-designed Discussion Board Overview
Collections
Thread Detail
Tagging Message
Modify Forum
Tutorial (Viewlet)
Complete Discussion Board Instructions (pdf)
DISCUSSION BOARD ENHANCEMENTS: SUMMER 2008
Overview
Restoring the capability in release 7.1, the user can again view the Course Discussions in a Tree View, in which the post titles to a particular thread are visible. The user must select the Tree View icon located on the right side of the Course Discussions page. Selecting a post from the Course Discussions page will navigate the user to the Thread Detail page and will display the post as well.
On the action toolbar, there are new icons. Mark as Read and Mark as Unread allow the instructor to classify which forums have been read or not. The Search area has been rolled up into a graphic icon of a magnifying glass. Selecting this icon will drop down the search area. Within the Search tool, it is now possible to search by time. Also, Subscribe and Unsubscribe icons allow users to subscribe or unsubscribe to a forum.
Within the Thread table of the Course Discussion page, several enhancements have been made. Grade and Tag columns have been added to the page, as well as a Grade icon that allows the user to navigate to Modify Grade Item page and grade the students’ forum performance. As well, the Subscribe and Flag indicators columns have been added, allowing the user to see the subscribed and flagged forums. Also, the Date column includes the exact time of the latest change to the forum. Finally, the number of unread posts in the Unread Posts column is a clickable icon that directs the user to the text of these unread posts.
Collections
There are several new features on the Collections page. Atop the page is the Grade field and entry box for the instructor. Within the action bar, like the Course Discussions page, there are icons for Mark Read and Mark Unread.
Within the Filter action bar, the user will notice a filter that includes filters for Author, Status, read Status, and Tags. As well, under this bar, the user can sort by a number of options, and choose the order in which they are displayed.
Within each post, the user has the ability to Reply, Quote, and Mark as Unread, the preceding post. Also, there is now an area for Tags that displays the tags that correspond to a particular post. There is also an Add icon to allow instructors to add tags.
Thread Detail
The Thread Detail page has been changed and enhanced. Now, within the action bar are the icons to Subscribe and Unsubscribe. As well, there are the icons to Mark Read and Mark Unread.
Clickable number links for Unread Posts have been added and direct the user to the collection of unread posts.
The new Quote icon is located within the action bar of a post. Selecting the icon directs the user to the Reply to Post page, to reply to a post, and within the Message text box is included the text from the post to which the user is responding.
Within a post, a user can now rate a post based on a star rating system. The user can also navigate to both the Previous Post and the Next Post.
Tagging Messages
Tags allow arbitrary message grouping independent of thread or thread status. Forum managers or Instructors can create and apply text labels of their own choosing to messages in a forum; other Discussion Board users can read, filter, and search messages using the tags, but cannot create new ones.
Modify Forum
Within the Modify Forum page, there are a number of new, available Forum Settings. As well, the Forum Moderator can select the Forum Availability date and time restrictions.
August 20, 2008 |
