There are two different discussion features in SIS. The more robust one is accessed like an assignment and is linked directly to the grade book. The other (described below) is accessed through the topics page. In both types, you and students can post and reply to each other.
Graded Discussion
In this feature, you write a question, students make their own responses to it, and then they reply to each other. You access responses through the grade book, and you can sort responses to see the whole discussion or just what an individual student wrote.
Note that all posts can include multimedia and links. If you know a little about html, you could even embed something from the web.
To set up a graded discussion, begin as if you were creating any other assignment in your grade book, but instead of clicking the button labeled "Assignment," click the "+ Discussion" button. It will bring you to the page in the screenshot below which looks very much like the screen for adding a new assignment.
- Add a title and your question.
- Indicate if you would like multiple sections to have a cross-class discussion.
- Indicate if you want students to respond before they see other students' responses. (Probably the best option under most circumstances.)
- Indicate if you would like to allow attachments in students' responses.
- All other features on this page are the same as adding a normal assignment.
Your Assignment Center indicates that the assignment is a discussion as in the screenshot below.
Click on the assignment to see the discussion details similar to the screenshot below.
1. Here you see the question you asked. Students click on "add new response" to begin.
2. Once a student has answered your question, people can reply to the answers by clicking on "add response."
3. Enter students' grades in the box by their names.
4. The number in the red box indicates the number of comments the student has made in the discussion. Beside that number, SIS indicates the date and time the student submitted the work.
5. The teacher has the option of hiding or deleting inappropriate or irrelevant comments.
Topics Page Discussion
This feature allows you to create a more informal (and much less useful) place for students to have an online discussion. You write an initial post, and students reply to it, and to each other's responses. There is no way to begin a new thread with this feature. To begin a new thread, you have to put a new discussion category into a Topics page. Also, the discussion displays the most recent comment first. There is no way to sort or otherwise control the order of responses.
Updated 8/29/2017
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