Discussions

Discussions are a type of assignment where you are asked to answer a question and then respond to the thinking of others. When your instructor assigns you a discussion, you will open the assignment from the modules page and it will look similar to the assignments page. You will be able to see the instructions, the due date, the number of points it is worth, and the specific directions for the assignment. Many instructors will allow you to post words, pictures, videos, audio files, or links. The instructor will tell you what to do in the instructions. 

To answer the discussion post, you need to click "reply". 

Discussion post with due date circled in red and reply pointed to with a black arrow.

 

This will open the box for you to type in. Just like a word or Google doc, you can add bullets, highlight things, change the font, bold things all from the typing box that Canvas provides. When you are finished writing your reply, you will click "post reply." 

Typing box to write a discussion answer with the typing box and post reply pointed to with black arrows.

 

Some instructors will want you to not only write your own reply, but also respond to the writing of other students. This will be listed in the directions and have a due date to complete. To respond, you will click "reply" on the discussion post you want to address and write a response to another student's work. Make sure you pay attention to the number of responses and due dates your instructor puts in the directions. 

 

Want more information?

This video explains how to view, reply to, and edit discussion posts.

To view subtitles for this video, mouse over the video, and click the Toggle "Captions On" button in the tool bar at the bottom of the video. You can select a language (English, Spanish or Portuguese) for the captions under Settings (the gear icon).

 

This video talks about basic discussion board dos and don'ts (netiquette). If you have not posted on a discussion board yet, this is a great video to check out how to act responsibly on a discussion board.

 

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