Forum Settings

Introduction

This page includes an overview of all major settings in the Forum activity, with the exception of self-explanatory settings like Forum name, Description, and the Attachments and word count section. There are many settings available for use. For a more streamlined version that focuses just on how to quickly create a simple forum, please see Creating a Simple Discussion Forum for additional context.

Forum settings

What does this button do?

In the Forum activity's settings, and throughout AsULearn, teal question mark icons () are available next to some settings. Clicking these icons will open a popover menu with additional context about that setting, and how it works.

Forum type

There are 5 types of forums you can use in AsULearn (these are not listed in the same order you'll see in AsULearn).

But they were all of them deceived, for another Forum was made

The Announcements forum is technically a sixth type of Forum, and is created by default in every new course in AsULearn. Only the instructor can post in this forum, and all course participants are automatically subscribed without an option to unsubscribe (so they cannot opt out of receiving any of your Announcement posts in their email). You cannot create an Announcements forum through the Forum activity, which is why it's not included in this article. See the Email Students in Your Class article for more context.

Standard forum for general use

This is the default forum type. This creates an open forum where everyone enrolled in the course can start a new post, and reply to any existing post or reply. It's the best general purpose forum, and will meet most needs for online discussions.

Standard forum displayed in a blog-like format

This forum offers the same permissions as "Standard forum for general use", where everyone enrolled in the course can start a new post, and reply to any existing post or reply. The only changes are to how posts are displayed. In this format the newest posts are displayed at the top of the page instead of the bottom (like a blog), and the first few lines of each entry will display as a preview before you open a post.

A single simple discussion

This is a...well, a single, simple discussion. This type works well for short, focused discussions around a single topic, and cannot be configured for use with separate groups.

Each person posts one discussion

Each person in the course can post up to...well, one discussion. Anyone else enrolled in the course can reply to them. This type works well for activities like a peer review. For example, having each student post a draft of a paper topic and thesis statement to gather feedback for improvement from their classmates.

Q and A forum

Students cannot create new posts in a Q and A forum. They can only reply to posts the instructor creates. Unlike other forum types, Q and A forums require students to post their own original thought before they can view what their classmates have written. This is a popular forum type among faculty who are seeking strong, independently formed thoughts about a discussion topic.

Common point of confusion

AsULearn provides a 15 minute grace period for forum posts, allowing a student author to edit their post if they need to revise their response. When that 15 minute period expires, their post is permanently locked for editing. Allowing students to see what their classmates have written during this grace period would defeat the purpose of the Q and A forum type, since they could then revise their response based on what their classmates have written. Therefore, students will not be able to view their classmates' posts until the 15 minute editing grace period has expired. This should be communicated to students before they post.

If they do not want to wait, direct them to click the "Advanced" link beneath their post. On the next page, they'll need to check the box next to "Send forum post notifications with no editing-time delay" before submitting their final post. This will bypass the 15 minute grace period, immediately lock their post so it cannot be edited, and make their classmates' posts visible.

Due date

Similar to the Due Date setting for Assignment, this setting adds a due date to the course calendar, and communicates a deadline to students. Students can still post to your forum after this date.

Cut-off date

The forum will no longer accept new posts or replies after this date, effectively "locking" the forum and making it "read only".

Subscribing to a Forum sends an email to the user whenever there is a new post.

Email notifications are a per-user setting

Some students elect to receive an email for each new forum post, while others opt to receive a daily digest instead. This daily digest is typically delivered each day around 5:00pm EST/EDT. If your forum post is time sensitive, consider using a tool like the Quickmail block instead (see Email Students in Your Class with the Quickmail Block for more context).

Subscription mode

Click the Subscription mode dropdown to select:

Optional subscription

Participants can choose whether or not to be subscribed. Select this option if you do not want an email every time someone makes a post.

Forced subscription

Everyone is subscribed and cannot unsubscribe.

Auto subscription

Everyone is subscribed by default, but can choose to unsubscribe at any time.

Subscription disabled

Subscriptions are not allowed, even if a student wants to voluntarily subscribe to the forum.

Read tracking

When Read tracking is enabled, participants will receive cues to help them track which posts and replies they have and have not read yet. This setting is not retroactively applied, and only begins tracking the read/unread state of posts and replies that are created after you enable it.

Grade

Whole Forum Grading can be enabled by changing the grade Type setting to Point. When enabled, this setting allows teachers to score forum participation in the Gradebook .

Grading method

Advanced grading methods such as rubrics and grading guides can be used in place of the default "Simple direct grading". Some instructors opt to use a simple grading guide instead of simple direct grading, because the grading guide provides a field for instructors to type overall feedback on a student's forum posts.

When using whole forum grading, a rubric, or a grading guide, numeric scores will always be recorded to the Gradebook. When a rubric or grading guide is used, students can also click the View grades button inside forum activity to view their individual rubric or marking guide grades and comments.

This is not a setting in the Forum settings, but is a notable option when posting in each forum. Anyone enrolled in the course with a teacher role can create private replies to students. After clicking reply to a post, simply tick the Reply privately checkbox below the message window. The resulting post will only be visible to the participant you reply to.

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