You can create group discussions in both the Groups and Discussions tools. 


To create a group topic in Discussions,

  1. Click New.
  2. Select New Topic.
    cursor over New and New Topic to indicate sequential clicks
  3. Select the Forum to house the topic.
  4. Choose "Group or section topic..." under Topic Type.
  5. Select the group category to determine which groups will be discussing in the topic.
    the forum selector, topic type options, and group/section selector
  6. Enter a Title for the topic.
  7. Enter a description for the topic if needed.
    the title field and description field for the topic
  8. Set Options.
  9. Set Rating options using the selector.
  10. Set Availability options. These determine when the topic is visible to students. (Note: if you added these settings to the forum, the settings will cascade down to the topic.)
  11. Set Locking options. These determine when the topic is open for students to post in. (Note: if you added these settings to the forum, the settings will cascade down to the topic.)
    options, rating selector, availability and locking options
  12. Select Save and Close, Save and New, or Save.
    1. Save and Close: will save the topic and return to the Discussions List
    2. Save and New: will save the topic and load a create a topic page
    3. Save: will save the topic and stay on the topic creation page
      save options Save and Close, Save and New, Save, and Cancel