Discussions boards, which are initiated by the instructor, allow for a virtual discussion on any given topic. The discussion area is used to share thoughts about course materials, respond to instructor prompts, ask questions, share files, or work together with peers. Users can post messages, as well as read and reply to messages posted by others.

This article explains how to post and reply to the discussion board in D2L.

Posting to a Discussion

Enter the Discussion area by clicking "Communications" > "Discussions" in the course navigation menu.

Discussions are organized by forums and topics. A forum is the overarching folder that house topics. Within each forum, you will find at least one topic where the actual discussion takes place.

Enter the topic you wish to participate in by clicking on its name.

Each new post in a discussion is called a thread. To create a new thread, click “Start a New Thread.”

Compose your message by entering a subject and body text. If you wish to receive notification of replies to your thread, check the “Subscribe to this thread” box. When you have completed your message, click “Post” to publish it to the discussion board.

Replying to a Discussion Post

Inside each topic, you will see multiple threads. To read or reply to a thread, click on the subject link.

Click the “Reply to Thread” button to begin composing a response.

Enter the response and click “Post” to publish it to the thread.

Note: All discussion posts are public and can be seen by the instructor and all students in the course.