Discussions in Canvas are important elements of online learning in which instructors and students build community through lively conversations about course concepts, often pushing beyond the boundaries of the lessons to deepen the shared knowledge in the digital learning space.
This guide will help instructors understand the Canvas Discussion controls so that they can maintain an active role in facilitating a meaningful discussion experience for their students.
Article Contents
I. Overview of Instructor Controls
Learn about the controls at the top of any discussion page.
Edit your discussion prompt, point values, grade settings, solo/group options, peer reviews, and other discussion settings.
III. Controls on Individual Posts
Mark posts as read/unread, edit, grade, and more.
I. Overview of Instructor Controls
Your instructor's view of the discussion starts off with some sorting buttons, then the discussion prompt display area, which contains a few other important controls.
Discussion Controls, Top
Along the top of the discussion, you will see buttons that control how your discussion looks to you, including sorting options, assign to options, and a search.
A. Search Forum: Look for keywords or search for specific students.
B. View: See all posts or unread posts by clicking this drop down menu.
C. Sort: Click to sort posts by newest or oldest. You'll see the arrow change position on this button after clicking it to remind you of the direction.
or
D. View: Click to choose between split screen or inline view and change the way your discussion displays threads.
Inline View
Inline View is the traditional view of the discussion, which distributes posts vertically on one page. Use the view option (D, above) to change the order of the posts from new to old and vice versa.
Split Screen
Split Screen opens the specific thread you click on in a pane on the right side of the screen.
If you click on a nested thread, you will see that thread open in the same pane. Click the back button to go back to the original post. Click the X in the upper corner to close the view.
E. Expand Threads: Click this button to expand and collapse all threads in the forum. (Screenshot below shows all threads collapsed.)
F. Assign To: Modify the from, due, and until dates for this forum.
Prompt Display Area & Controls
Below the upper layer of buttons, you will see the following:
- (A) the assigned students and date detail;
- below that (B) the prompt display area, which contains your prompt and any images you have added (image, center)and a reply button (lower-left);
- and (C) post-specific data and options: the discussion point value, number of replies, published state, discussion-level option dots (upper-right).
Post-specific Options Closeup
The post-specific options in the upper-right corner of the prompt display area has the following information and controls.
A. Points Possible: The point value of the discussion. This point value can be adjusted by clicking item E and choosing Edit.
B: Replies: This shows the overall number of replies in this forum.
C. Published Status: If the discussion is published, it will appear with a green circle and check mark (as shown above). If unpublished, there will be an empty, crossed-out circle.
D. Subscribe: Clicking this will toggle your subscribe status from subscribed (green) to unsubscribed (empty/white). For more about the subscribe feature, click the link below.
E. Options: Click this to see the options for this specific discussion. You can use the Edit option to modify the point value, assignment category, due dates, and other options.
II. Editing a Discussion
Click Edit from the three option dots in the upper right-hand corner of the prompt display area to modify the prompt content and many important settings in your discussion.
Title and Prompt Content
Change the title of your discussion and create a prompt with an introduction, specific instructions, and any images, links, or supplemental content your students will need to make their posts.
Discussion Options
You can customize the settings for the discussion to meet your instructional needs.
Anonymous Discussion Options: Choose partial or fully anonymous discussions (if desired) or leave the setting to off so that students' names and profile pictures appear.
Disallow Threaded Replies: Every post will appear individually instead of in threads. (Not recommended)
Participants must respond before viewing: Make students post first before seeing their classmates' responses. Note: Do not use a discussion like a quiz; this setting is not recommended as students will complain that the discussion is not working or visible. Only use the setting if you explain this is the setting.
Enable Podcast Feed: Read about this option at How do I enable a podcast feed for a discussion in a course? Instructure
Graded: Check this box to make this a graded discussion and enter the point value below in the points possible field. Uncheck the box to make the discussion ungraded.
Allow Liking: Click to enable liking posts. You can opt to have only graders like. The benefit from this option is creating an experience similar to social media. A possible downside is that likes are not always evenly distributed. Enable according to your instructional goals.
This is a Group Discussion: Group discussions use your pre-created groups and limit posting and replying to only the students put into each group. This could be used for small group feedback or group assignment-based discussions, for example.
Points Possible: Enter the numerical point value for the discussion. Explain any particulars of point value in the instructions or create a rubric using the three option dots on the main discussion page.
Assignment Group: Place this discussion into one of your assignment groups, which should correspond to your grading percentages on your syllabus.
Peer Reviews: Click the appropriate radio button to disable or enable peer reviews as well as choose the assignment style for reviews.
Assignment Options
Below the discussion options you will see another way to change the assignment settings, which allow you to assign the discussion to everyone (default) or specific students (click in the assign to pane). You can also modify the due, available, and until dates.
When you are finished making all these settings, click Save in the bottom-right corner of the page.
III. Controls on Individual Posts
You have some options to control the read status and make other changes to individual posts within the forum.
A. Replies: Click to expand all replies to this particular post.
B. Reply: Click to reply to the parent post.
C: Like: If enabled, click to like.
D. Mark as Read/Unread: Click to mark post as read or unread. This can also be done using option E (below).
Read: Unread:
E. Post options: Click to reveal a list of options (shown below).
Post Options Explained
- Mark as Unread/Read: Another way to mark the read status of a post.
- Mark Thread as Unread: Allows you to mark an entire thread as read or unread.
- Go To Topic: Returns you to the top of the page to view the discussion prompt area.
- Edit: Allows you to change the contents of a post. This will create an edited by tag with time and date.
- Quote Reply: This option allows you to call out the specific post in your reply, making it clear exactly what you are commenting on. Click the green slider to include the quoted reply, type your comment, and click Reply, as you would with any other post you make.
- Delete: Allows you to delete a post. A notification will be created showing that a post was deleted.
- Open in Speedgrader: Allows you to leave the active discussion to score points or provide specific, non-public comments on students' contributions to the discussion.
- Report: This allows students to report problematic posts to you for review. Posts can be marked as inappropriate, offensive/abusive, or other, allowing detailed comments to be left.