Create Group Discussions

There are now two ways to create group discussions in the Groups tool.


 

Old Method

New Method

Topic management

Create one topic per group.

 

 

Creates one discussion topic for each group. Students can only see the topic restricted to their group.

Create one topic with threads separated by group.

 

Creates one discussion topic all groups can access. Topic is filtered by group. Students can only see threads from their own group.

Grades

Can’t associate grade item to multiple topics.

 

Must grade outside of Discussions.

Can associate grade item to topic.

 

 

Can grade students in Discussions.

 

The new method improves workflow in creating and assessing group discussions.

  1. On the Create Restricted Topics page, select the Forum (or create one) for the topics.

  2. Choose how many topics to create:
    • New Method: To manage all discussion in one topic, selectCreate one topic with threads separated by group”. Students only see their group’s threads.

    • Old Method: To manage each topic individually,selectCreate one topic per group”. Students can only see topics restricted to their group.
      Select Forum, Select Old/New method

  3. Enter a group discussion Title and Description.
    Enter title and description

  4. Click Create and Next or Add Another (and repeat steps 2 and 3). When you are done adding topics, click Create and Next.
    Click Create and Next
    If you are also setting up assignment submission folders, you will set those up next. Otherwise, you will click Done and return to Save your category.