Posting and Replying to a Discussion

Overview

You can participate in discussion in one of two ways: by posting a new thread to a discussion topic or by replying to a thread that a student or your instructor has posted. To keep track of new activity, you can also subscribe to a discussion and receive updates by email or text message immediately or as a daily email summary.

Being you will not be able to edit a discussion post after you submit, think about writing your response in a Word document, review it. When ready copy and paste your draft into the discussion thread or reply.

Video

OCC students and faculty can click on the video below to launch.

Here's How

Posting to a Discussion 

Students can post to discussion topics created by their instructor.

Important Note: It is important to pay close attention to dates and restrictions placed on any discussions created by your instructor.

For example, your instructor may have a start date, due date, and end date assigned to a discussion topic. If you are trying to post to a discussion before the start date, you will not be able to create a discussion thread. Similarily, if you are trying to create a discussion thread after the end date has passed, you will not be able to create a discussion thread.

Important Note: Your instructor may require that you first start a new thread in the topic before you can read and reply to other threads by your classmates.

1. Once you enter your course, click Discussions on the navigation bar.
   
   Note: Instructors may link to Discussions within Content.
    
2. On the Discussions List page, click on the Topic name (e.g. Introduce Yourself).
   
3. Click the Start a New Thread button.
   
4. Enter a subject.
    
5. Compose your message.
    
6. Click the Post button.

Replying to a Discussion 

1. On the Discussions List page, click on the Topic that contains the thread to which you want to reply.
    
2. Click on the title of a thread to which you want to reply.
   
3. Click on the Reply to Thread button.
   
4. Compose your message.
    
5. Click Post.
   

Deleting or Editing Your Posts

Once you have made a discussion post, you are not able to edit. Only your instructor has the ability to remove or edit an existing post. Contact your instructor if you wish to have your post edited or removed or to ask if you can correct your errors by replying to your own thread instead of removing it.