The Forum activity module enables participants to have asynchronous discussions i.e. discussions that take place over an extended period of time.


Forums allow for discussions to happen at any time without all users having to be logged in simultaneously to participate. This activity can be the most important - it is here that most discussion takes place. Forums can be structured in different ways and can include peer rating of each posting. The postings can be viewed in a variety for formats and can include attachments. By subscribing to a forum, participants will receive copies of each new posting in their email. An instructor can force email subscription for those forums deemed worthy of this extra notification.

New UR Courses sites begin with a News forum. Unlike other forums, this one is solely for instructor communication. Students are not able to add posts or reply to any posts made in this forum. It works well for announcements and posts are highlighted in the Latest Announcements block. If you delete this forum, you will not be able to re-add it through the Activities menu.

Forums have many uses, such as:

  • A social space for students to get to know each other
  • For course announcements (using a news forum with forced subscription)
  • For discussing course content or reading materials
  • For continuing online an issue raised previously in a face-to-face session
  • For instructor-only discussions (using a hidden forum)
  • A help centre where tutors and students can give advice
  • A one-on-one support area for private student-instructor communications (using a forum with separate groups and with one student per group)

Forum Types

There is one announcement forum and five discussion forum types:

  • Single simple discussion - A single discussion topic which everyone can reply to, useful for short focused discussions (cannot be used with separate groups).
  • Each person posts one discussion - Each student can post one new discussion topic which everyone can then reply to. This is useful when you want each student to start a discussion about a specific topic and have others respond to the initial topic posts.
  • Q and A forum - The instructor poses a question in the initial post of a discussion topic. Students will not be permitted to see the replies from other students until they have contributed to the same discussion.
  • Standard forum displayed in a blog-like format - An open forum where anyone can start a new discussion at any time in which discussion topics are displayed on one page with "Discuss this topic" links.
  • Standard forum for general use - An open forum where anyone can start a new discussion at any time.

Setting Up a Forum


Setting up a forum

  1. Open the course and turn Edit mode on.
  2. Click Add an activity or resource in the desired section and select the Forum activity from the menu.
  3. Check the following settings:
    • Forum name: Name the Forum descriptively
    • Description (optional): Type a description of what the Forum is for into the text box.
    • Forum Type: Choose the appropriate forum type forumsettingup1
    • Availability: The forum Availability settings allow the instructor to set both a Due date and a Cut-off date. The Due date is the date by which the forum posts are due. Postings are still allowed after this date if the Cut-off date is not set. The Cut-off date is the date after which postings will not accepted. Only the Due date will appear on the course calendar forumsettingup2
    • Attachments and word count: Toggle to 32mb to maximize the file size of attachments that may be submitted to the Forum (Let the other toggles be, as they aren’t critically important)
    • Subscription and Tracking: You can ignore this
    • Discussion Locking: You can ignore this
    • Post Threshold for Blocking: You can ignore this
    • Turnitin Plagiarism Settings: You can ignore this
    • Whole forum grading: Check here
    • Ratings: Toggle Aggregate type, if you plan to directly grade the students’ postings. If you choose something other than No ratings, then the Maximum grade box will light up, and you then enter the number that you are going to rate each forum posting out of. You can ignore Restrict ratings to items with dates in the range, if you have already toggled a Read only date
    • Common module setting: Ignore all toggles, unless you plan to form Groups for discussions. If you plan to use groups, click here for guidance
    • Restrict Access: You can ignore this
  4. Click Save and return to course or Save and display.

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Using Forums


To use a forum:

  1. Turn Edit Mode on.
  2. Click on the name of the Forum.
    • In a single simple discussion, the initial post is based on the Description field of the forum. When viewing the forum activity, there is a menu to adjust how replies are displayed. Action links appear at the bottom of each reply.
    • In an Each person posts one discussion forum, each course member is able to add a single discussion topic and may reply to any of the topics within this forum.
    • In a Q and A forum, there is an Add a discussion topic button available for instructors to add a new topic. Students are only able to reply to the main topic and will only see replies made by other students after they have posted a reply.
    • Within a Standard forum displayed in a blog-like format, the content of each discussion topic is presented on the main forum page with links to view or add further replies.
    • In a Standard forum for general use, select Add a new discussion topic or enter an existing topic to post a reply.

forumsusing1

Searching Forums

Within a forum, a search field is available that enables a search of course forums for a word or phrase. forumusing2

To search a forum:

  1. Open the forum.
  2. Enter the key word(s) in the field and select Search forums.

Star or Pin a Discussion

Within a forum, discussions can be pinned or starred.

To pin or star a discussion:

  1. Open the forum.
  2. Open the discussion.
  3. Click on the Settings drop-down list.
  4. Select the action that you would like – Star this discussion or Pin this discussion. This acts as a toggle. To unpin or unstar a discussion, return to the Settings drop-down list in the discussion, and choose the Unstar this discussion or Unpin this discussion option.

forumusing3

Replying to an In Page Forum Post

A forum post reply can be updated with further comments and an attachment by using the Advanced link.

To update a reply post:

  1. Open the forum.
  2. Open the discussion.
  3. Locate the original reply in the posting list.
  4. Click on the Reply button. forumusing4
  5. Click on the Advanced button. forumusing5
  6. Enter the additional comments.
  7. Add an attachment if required.
  8. Post the updated reply. forumusing6

Lock a Discussion

A discussion can be locked to prevent any further replies to a forum discussion. The “Lock this discussion” option is found in the Settings of the discussion. To unlock a discussion, return to the discussion Settings and select the “Unlock this discussion” option.

To lock a discussion:

  1. Open the forum.
  2. Open the discussion.
  3. Click on the Settings drop-down list.
  4. Select the Lock this discussion option. forumusing7
  5. A confirmation message appears. forumusing8
  6. A Locked message appears on the discussion listing page. forumusing9

Export Forum Posts

Forum posts can be exported based on a variety of criteria. These options include:

  • All discussions in a forum
  • A specific discussion
  • All students’ posts
  • A specific student’s posts
  • All posts
  • Only posts created during a specified time period

To export forum posts:

  1. Open the forum.
  2. Click on the More drop down list. forumusing10
  3. Click on the Export option. forumusing11
  4. Select the student(s) to be included in the export by either selecting from the drop-down list or by leaving the Users set to All users. forumusing12
  5. Select the discussion(s) to be included in the export by either selecting the discussion from the drop-down list or by leaving the Discussions set to All discussions. forumusing13
  6. Enter the time period for the posts to include in the export by selecting the Post from and Post to dates and times. The default is to have the date fields disabled. To enable these fields and select the specific dates and times, click on the Enable check boxes. forumusing14
  7. Select the file format of the export. Click on the drop-down list and select the format from the list of options. Click on the Export button and save the file. forumusing15

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Whole Forum Grading


When whole forum grading is enabled, grading options appear for the instructor use.  The grades entered through the forum will appear in the Gradebook. There are three methods of grading, each with its own grading interface. The three grading methods are:

  • Simple Direct Grading
  • Marking Guide
  • Rubric

There is also a forum summary report to view student statistics.

Simple Direct Grading

To enable the simple direct grading:

  1. Create a forum as outlined in Setting Up a Form and also complete the Whole forum grading section
    • Grade - Point
    • Maximum grade – value as appropriate
    • Grading method – Simple direct grading
    • Grade category – category as appropriate or leave as Uncategorised
    • Grade to pass – value as appropriate
    • Default setting for “Notify students” – No/Yes as appropriate

forumsgrading1

  1. Click Save and return to course or Save and display.

To grade the posts within the forum:

  1. Select the forum from the course page.
  2. Click on the Grade users button. forumsgrading2
  3. Review the posts for a student and enter the grade. forumsgrading3
  4. Click on the Save button to save the student’s grade. forumsgrading4
  5. A confirmation message appears indicating that the student’s grade has been saved. forumsgrading5
  6. Click on the forward arrow by the student’s name to move to the next student to grade. forumsgrading6
  7. After all students have been graded, click on the Close button to return to the forum. forumsgrading7

Marking Guide

To enable the marking guide grading:

  1. Create a forum as outlined in Setting Up a Form and also complete the Whole forum grading section
    • Grade - Point
    • Maximum grade – value as appropriate
    • Grading method – Marking guide
    • Grade category – category as appropriate or leave as Uncategorised
    • Grade to pass – value as appropriate
    • Default setting for “Notify students” – No/Yes as appropriate

forumsgrading8

  1. Click Save and return to course or Save and display.

To set up the Marking Guide:

  1. Select the forum from the course page.
  2. Click on the Advanced grading tab. forumsgrading9
  3. Click on the Define new grading from scratch link. forumsgrading10
  4. Create the marking guide.
    • Enter a name for the marking guide
    • Enter the criterion for the marking guide forumsgrading11
    • Click on the Add criterion button and repeat the above step for each criterion required
    • Complete the other settings as appropriate
  5. Save the marking guide and return to the course page

To grade the posts within the forum:

  1. Select the forum from the course page
  2. Click on the Grade users button forumsgrading12
  3. Review the posts for a student and enter the grade for each criterion in the marking guide. Feedback can also be entered in the Additional comments fields for each criterion. Grades and feedback are available to students if they return to the forum and click on the View grades button. forumsgrading13
  4. Click on the Save button to save the student’s grade. forumsgrading14
  5. A confirmation message appears indicating that the student’s grade has been saved. forumsgrading15
  6. Click on the forward arrow by the student’s name to move to the next student to grade. forumsgrading16
  7. After all students have been graded, click on the Close button to return to the forum. forumsgrading17

Students can see their grades and the feedback by clicking on the forum on the course page and then clicking on the View grades button. forumsgrading18

Rubric

To enable the rubric grading:

  1. Create a forum as outlined in Setting Up a Form and also complete the Whole forum grading section
    • Grade - Point
    • Maximum grade – value as appropriate
    • Grading method – Rubric
    • Grade category – category as appropriate or leave as Uncategorised
    • Grade to pass – value as appropriate
    • Default setting for “Notify students” – No/Yes as appropriate

forumsgrading19

  1. Click Save and return to course or Save and display.

To set up the Rubric:

  1. Select the forum from the course page.
  2. Click on the Advanced grading tab. forumsgrading20
  3. Click on the Define new grading form from scratch option forumsgrading21
  4. Create the Rubric:
    • Enter a name for the rubric
    • Enter the first criterionn for the rubric by entering the criterion name, the description of the assessment, and the points associated with that level. forumsgrading22
    • Click on the Add criterion button and repeat the above step for each criterion required forumsgrading23
    • Complete the other settings as appropriate forumsgrading24
  5. Save the rubric and return to the course page.

To grade the posts within the forum:

  1. Select the forum from the course page
  2. Click on the Grade users button forumsgrading25
  3. Review the posts for a student and select the appropriate assessment rating for each criterion in the rubric. Feedback can also be entered in the Additional feedback fields for each criterion. Grades and feedback are available to students if they return to the forum and click on the View grades button. forumsgrading26
  4. Click on the Save button to save the student’s grade. forumsgrading27
  5. A confirmation message appears indicating that the student’s grade has been saved. forumsgrading28
  6. Click on the forward arrow by the student’s name to move to the next student to grade. forumsgrading29
  7. After all students have been graded, click on the Close button to return to the forum. forumsgrading30

Students can see their grades and the feedback by clicking on the forum on the course page and then clicking on the View grades button. forumsgrading31

Access the Summary Report:

  1. Select the forum from the course page.
  2. Click Reports from the navigation bar. forumreports
  3. The report shows, name, number of posts, replies, attachments, views, word count, time, and offers a single student export. 

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More Options


Participants can subscribe to a forum to receive notifications of new forum posts. An instructor can set the subscription mode to optional, forced or auto, or prevent subscription completely. If required, students can be blocked from posting more than a given number of posts in a given time period; this can prevent individuals from dominating discussions.

Forum posts can be rated by instructors or students (peer evaluation). Ratings can be aggregated to form a final grade which is recorded in the gradebook.

For more information

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