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Overview

Learn how to create threads and participate in threads in Ed Discussion. This resource also touches on what learners can do in Ed Discussion (compared to educators). As a reminder, Ed Discussion is myLearning's recommended discussion tool, except for graded and group discussions.

How to create a thread

Important!

You will need to active your Ed Discussion course before you can start creating threads. Please ensure you understand how Ed Discussion course activation works before you progress, especially if you want to set up threads before teaching commences.

Thread types

Before you create a new thread, it's important you understand the different types of threads you can create. The different types are explained in the table below.

Thread type	Use case	Examples
Question	To ask a specific question to get an answer, where there is a specific correct answer (typically used by learners).	'What time is next week's workshop?' 'What are the five stages of Mitosis?'
Post	To start a discussion about something or pose a general question with no specific answer (typically used by educators). Educators can set Posts as 'megathreads' to collate related questions, to avoid learners posting lots of individual Question threads.	'Classes are starting next week. Introduce yourselves in this thread!' 'How is everyone finding the course so far? Have there been any particularly difficult concepts?' 'Post your questions about today's class here.'
Announcement	Announcements are used to notify learners about important course information. Ed Discussion should not be used for course announcements, except to welcome learners to Ed Discussion. Instead, you should use Canvas Announcements, which are more visible and accessible to learners.

Get pedagogical/design support

It can be difficult to engage learners in online discussion forums. Choosing the right discussion topics and framing them the right way are both important. Before you start, refer to Course Development Essentials for advice on getting the most out of your discussions.

How to create a thread

Step-by-step instructions

Select 'New Thread' in the top-left (make sure you have the correct Ed Discussion course selected).

Select the type of thread you want to create ('Question', 'Post' or 'Announcement').
Input your thread 'Title'. You should keep this short - more in-depth information should be added to the thread description.
Set a 'Category' for your thread (you can create custom categories and subcategories, such as for each curriculum module/topic, assignment or activity type). If the category you selected includes subcategories, then you will also need to select a subcategory.

Input a thread description using the Ed Discussion rich content editor. You can add, format and hyperlink text (including being able to add callouts); create lists; embed images, videos and documents; insert equations, executable code and web snippets (you can modify the default/available coding languages in your course); annotate images; mention other educators or threads (by typing '@name' for educators and '#threadNumber' for other threads); and embed polls.

Configure your thread's settings. The configuration options available to you will differ depending on the type of thread you're creating.
1. Pinned : Set the thread to appear at the top of the course's list of threads.
2. Private : Set the thread to only be visible to the poster and course staff (this can be used by learners to ask questions privately).
3. Anonymous : Hide the thread poster's name from learners.
4. Anonymous comments : Allow comments on the thread to be made anonymously.
5. Megathread : Used on threads where learners may reply with numerous questions (e.g. 'Post your questions about today's class here'). Allows you to mark thread responses 'resolved', like you would mark 'Question' threads 'answered'.
6. Email : Set whether or not email notifications will be sent to users in the course when posted.

When you're done, select 'Post'. Alternatively, you can select the up arrow to schedule a time to post your thread, or navigate away from the creator menu to save it as a draft (to post later).

Important!

If teaching has not yet commenced in your myLearning course, then you should schedule your thread, or save it as a draft, so that it is posted after teaching commences.

Once posted, your thread will appear in your Ed Discussion course ready for participation from learners.

Participating in and moderating threads

Participating in threads

You are able to open and respond to thread prompts directly, or by replying to other people's comments. For 'Question' threads, you will also be able to leave answers to the question being asked. Learners will be able to see and reply to your responses, and each other's.

When crafting responses, you can enable 'Visible to staff only' and use mentions to leave private comments for your teaching staff (e.g. 'Hey @John Doe, can you please answer this question?').

Moderating threads

When you view a thread as a staff member or admin, you will also see options to edit and delete threads, replies and 'Question' answers (even those created by other users). You can also pin threads; endorse threads/'Question' answers (as if to say, 'I approve of this'); mark 'Megathread' subthreads 'Resolved' ; and mark 'Question' answers 'Accepted' .

Adjusting thread availability

By selecting the three horizontal dots adjacent a thread, you will also be able to adjust it's availability. You can make it private, mark it as a duplicate of another thread, decline it and/or lock it. Each availability option does something a bit different, as described in the table further on.

Availability option	Hide thread*	Lock participation	Notes(s)
Make Private	Yes	No	--
Mark as Duplicate	No	No	Adds a notice to the thread linking it to the one it is a duplicate of. You must also 'Lock' duplicates to prevent further participation.
Decline	Yes	Yes	Declining a thread implies that you don't approve it for discussion. If you just want to hide and lock an approved thread, use 'Make Private' and 'Lock' instead. You can leave a note for the poster explaining why their thread was declined. You can also set threads to require approval before being posted.
Lock	No	Yes	--

*except for educators and the poster.

What can learners do?

What can learners do?

By default, your learners will be able to create and participate in Ed Discussion threads mostly the same as you. There are a few exceptions, in that learners cannot:

post 'Announcement' threads
enable 'Megathread' on 'Post' threads
mark 'Question' answers as 'accepted' (except for their own threads) or 'Megathread' responses 'resolved'
endorse or moderate threads.

For more information, refer to Ed Discussion's resource on role differences.

Restricting what learners can post and archiving courses

If you want to restrict what learners post about, you can configure your Ed Discussion course so that learners are unable to post new threads without approval from someone with a teaching role in the course. You can also archive your Ed Discussion course once teaching has finished to prevent further participation.

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