Using Blackboard's Discussion Board
Blackboard's Discussion Board allows members of the class to communicate with one another while not requiring all members to be online at the same time.
Discussions on the Discussion Board are logged and organized. Conversations are grouped into threads that contain a main posting heading and all related replies.
Generally your instructor will create a forum on a specific topic. You will access the topic by clicking on the forum, reading the posts, and posting your reply. A series of posts within a forum is called a thread. You may reply to a thread or you may begin a new thread.
The instructions below provide information on how to post replies and how to add attachments. Before posting any replies to Blackboard's Discussion Board, please read the guidelines for Discussion Board Etiquette.
Posting a Reply to a Blackboard Discussion
1. Access the Discussion Board in Blackboard.
After logging in to Blackboard and accessing your course, click on Communication in the Tools box.
Click on Discussion Board to enter the Discussion Board for the course.
2. Select the Forum you wish to participate in.
The Discussion Board will list the forums created by your instructor. Click on the name of the forum you wish to participate in.
3. Select the Discussion thread.
Once you have entered the Forum, click on the Discussion thread in which you wish to participate. If others have already entered into the discussion, you may scroll through and review their responses.
To scroll through and review responses, click on Previous Post or Next Post located in the discussion box at the bottom of the screen.
4. Post a reply to the topic.
To post a reply, click the the Reply button.
Please Note: To reply to the thread topic, click the Reply button located next to the thread topic. To reply to a particular response, click the Reply button located in the discussion box at the bottom of the screen.
Click in the message box and key in your reply.
Please Note: You may format the text in your reply using the tool bar located above the text area.
5. Click the Submit button.
After finishing your message, click the Submit button.
Your reply is now posted to the discussion board.
6. Making corrections to your Post.
If after posting your reply you wish to make corrections to your response, scroll to your response.
Click the Modify button located in the discussion box at the bottom of the screen.
Make your corrections to your message and click the submit button. Your post will be replaced with your corrected message.
You may add attachments to the Discussion Board -- this is especially helpful if your reply is fairly long.
1. Select your topic.
Click on the Reply button to the topic you wish to make a reply.
Please Note: To reply to the thread topic, click the Reply button located next to the thread topic. To reply to a particular response, click the Reply button located in the discussion box at the bottom of the screen.
2. Key in your message.
Enter your text in the message area. Then click on Attach a File in the Attachements section located under the message field.
3. Browse to and select your file to attach to the Response.
Click the Browse button next to the Attach Local File field.
Browse to the file located on your desktop and select your file.
Your file should appear in the Attach Local File field.
4. Submit your Reply.
Click the Submit button.
Your reply has been added to the discussion, along with the attachment. Just click on the attachment to open it.