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Guide to Using Discussion Forums

Discussion Forums on the RDI Virtual Learning Environment facilitate interaction among students and Module Tutors, enhancing the learning experience. The guide explains how to access and participate in various forums, including the News Forum, Tutor-led Group Learning Space, and General Discussions Forum. It also covers how to view, reply to discussions, and access user profiles for further engagement.

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Sumanta Sinhatal
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2 views8 pages

Guide to Using Discussion Forums

Discussion Forums on the RDI Virtual Learning Environment facilitate interaction among students and Module Tutors, enhancing the learning experience. The guide explains how to access and participate in various forums, including the News Forum, Tutor-led Group Learning Space, and General Discussions Forum. It also covers how to view, reply to discussions, and access user profiles for further engagement.

Uploaded by

Sumanta Sinhatal
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Discussion Forums / Boards

Discussion Forums (also known as Discussion Boards) are a key feature on


the RDI Virtual Learning Environment. They are available to all students and
will constitute the main medium through which you will interact with your
fellow students and your Module Tutors. They are provided as an aid to your
studies and participating in them will greatly enhance your learning
experience on the programme.

This guide is a provided to enable you to get started in using the Discussion
Forum Function.

Accessing a Discussion Forum

Figure 1.1 – An example of the Resources section of your module

In the main window, beneath the heading Resources you will see links to
several options (as shown in the screenshot above).

The first option in this list will always be the News Forum, where your Tutor
and relevant Student Support Staff may post important notices regarding your
module.

The second option is the Tutor lead Group Learning Space. This area is
provided to support your learning of the course materials. It is the area in
which you will post your responses to the Module Tasks set by your Tutor,
interact with your peers and obtain help and guidance from your Tutor. You
will be able to participate in any of the Discussions Topics posted by your
Tutor and add new topics you would like to discuss.

Thirdly, a General Discussions Forum is provided to enable you to talk freely


with your colleagues and to create new topics and participate in any
discussions you feel appropriate.

To enter any of these Forums, simply click on the link in the list (as shown in
Figure 1.1).
Topic Overview

Figure 1.2 – Topic overview

You will be presented with a screen similar to Figure 1.2. The four columns
displayed show:

The name / short description of the discussion topic


Who started the topic
The number of replies posted
When the last post was received.

To enter your contribution to the discussion, simply click the name of the
discussion (see Figure 1.3 below)

You may also search the discussion board for your course by typing your
query in to the box in the shaded area near the top of the screen. Simply click
the Search Forums to show all discussions that match your criteria.

Figure 1.3 – Entering a discussion


Figure 1.4 – An example discussion

You should see something similar to the image above (Figure 1.4). The top
post will usually be from your Tutor who starts the discussion or debate.
Beneath this all replies are listed. You may reply to a specific post (maybe you
agree with one student’s point of view and would like to join the discussion at
that point) or reply to the main topic.

To add your views to the discussion, simply click the Reply button next to the
post you want to respond to.
Figure 1.5 – The topic reply screen

The top of this screen will show you the message you are replying to. In the
Your reply window you can enter a subject for your reply. As standard this
will add Re: to the beginning of the original topic name, but you may alter this
field to something more suitable if you are addressing a specific part of the
question.

The main editor window allows you to type your response. Although there is
no limit to the size of your post, it is good practice to keep your message short
and to the point. Also bear in mind that everybody on your course will be able
to read your response, so you are advised to contact your Tutor directly for
anything you wish to be kept private. Think of the Forums in a similar was as
a class discussion where every student can overhear and participate as they
wish.

You may also attach a file to your Forum post. This could be a graphic, or a
word document for example to support your point.

Once you are happy with your post, click the Post to Forum button at the
bottom of the page.
Figure 1.6 – Your post was successfully added

Once your post has been submitted you will see a message confirming that
your post was successfully added. You may edit your post for up to 30
minutes after it was added (as shown in Figure 1.6). After a few seconds you
will automatically be taken back to the Main Discussion Page. You can then
check that you are happy with your post and either continue browsing, or
change your response. After 30 minutes, you will no longer be able to make
any changes.

Viewing Options

Once a topic becomes popular or has been running for a long amount of time,
you may wish to change the way the page is displayed to help organise the
responses. You can do this by selecting your required option from the drop-
down box above the first post.

This box contains 4 options -

1. Display replies flat, with oldest first


2. Display replies flat, with newest first
3. Display replies in threaded form
4. Display replies in nested form

Options 1 and 2

A flat view shows all the posts aligned to the left of the screen and treats all
subtopics as one conversation (see Figure 1.7 for an example).

Option 1 is the standard default view you will see unless you have previously
changed you viewing options. Options 2 will change the order of the replies
but the main post will remain at the top of the page. This can be useful if you
have previously read a topic and only want to see the latest posts.
Figure 1.7 – Flat view, oldest first

Option 3

Figure 1.8 – Display replies in threaded form

Option 3 (Figure 1.8) allows you to display large amounts of posts in a


hierarchical fashion. This can be useful if you are following a subsection of a
discussion or following a particular groups conversation. To expand the topic,
click on the title to the left of the post.
Option 4

Figure 1.9 – Display replies in a nested form

The nested view will indent replies so that you can see which replies relate to
each poster. If a group of people reply to a specific post then they will be
grouped together for easier reading. If a particular subtopic does not interest
you then you can easily skip this branch of the conversation and return to the
original topic.
Forums and Profiles

To find out further information about the participants of a chat or Forum, you
can click on their name or image at any time. This will take you to the profile
overview screen (shown in Figure 2.0)

Figure 2.0 – The Profile overview screen

A user’s profile will contain the following information if the user has chosen to
provide it:

A short description of the user. This could contain; interests, job role,
background etc.
The city/town where they are based
When they last logged on to the Virtual Learning Environment
What role they have on the system (student, Tutor, administrator,
support)

From this page, you can also send a message directly to that user. This will
only be readable by the user you have sent it to. The user will be alerted to
your message by email if they are offline or by an instant message if they are
currently logged into the Virtual Learning Environment.

To display all messages that a user has posted to the Forum, click the Forum
posts tab above the user’s profile. This will only show the submissions from
the chosen user, but if you find an interesting response you can jump into the
chosen discussion by clicking the “See this post in context” link beneath the
message.

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