Threaded Discussions, Blogs and Journals

The Chat tool allows you as the Section Instructor to create digital “rooms” where students can communicate online in real time from different locations - similar to Instant Messaging (IM). You as the instructor can create one room in which all people enrolled in your Section (including you) can communicate or you may create individual rooms that groups can work in and that you can monitor or moderate.

 
  • Click Discussions on the Course Tools

 

 

 

 

  • Choose Threaded Discussions, Blogs or Journal

 

Threaded is for a structured discussion, or when the discussion might take different directions (Threaded was the only type of Discussion available in WebCT Vista 3). In threaded topics only message subjects are displayed on the main screen. All replies to the same message are grouped together, creating message threads.

 

 Blogs (web logs), are visible to all course participants. This topic is for a more casual discussion, or when you want students to be able to quickly see all messages. Blogs provide a great way for students to stay connected and share ideas. In a Blackboard Vista 8 blog, topic messages are displayed on the main screen as a chronological series of entries. Students can browse through their classmates’ entries or jump into the discussion by posting entries and comments of their own; comments appear on a separate screen.
Journals can be visible to students or just the instructor. A journal gives each individual student a place for his or her writing samples or to record their thoughts on course topics, reports or lectures. Journals can be private (for student and instructor only) or public (accessible by the class). You can access students' journals via a list on the left of the screen.

 

Threaded Discussions

  

 
  • Enter the Title and a Description







  • Select the Category

 

 
  • Select if Discussion is gradable

 

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  • Click to allow (or require) Peer Review

 

  • Determine Student Behaviors for the discussion

 

To access the discussion:

  • Click on the name.

 
  • Click Create Message to post.

 

 
  • Enter Subject
  • Enter Message
  • Click Post.

 
  • Messages can Expand or Collapse, and can be displayed Threaded or Unthreaded.

 

 
  • Messages may be marked as Read or Unread, Printed or Deleted.
  • Messages may be Moved or Copied to other Topics.
  • Bold messages are unread
  • Click to display all the subjects and authors of a thread.

 

Blogs

 

The Blog tool presents message posts from students and faculty in reverse chronological order. Responses to each post by other course members are linked from the main post as comments.

Blogs display the full text of the original posts (instead of just the subjects, as in threaded discussions).
Journals

  

 

The journal tool allows students to record their reflections on the experiences of the course. The journal tool allows the journal to be private between the student and instructor.

A Journal is created in the same way that a threaded discussion or blog. The only difference is the option to make the journal public or private.
   

 

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