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Online Learning @ College of the Canyons
Discussion Board: Posting or Replying to a Message

The discussion board tutorial instructions given are for Blackboard, as this is the course platform used by a majority of the courses at College of the Canyons.  Techniques are similar for other course platforms.

From either the Welcome or the Announcements page click on the Discussion Board button.

TO POST AN ORIGINAL DISCUSSION THREAD

When the Discussion Board page opens, click on the underlined (linked)heading of the discussion thread that you wish to enter.

To start a new discussion thread, click the "Add New Thread" button near the top of the page.  A "Create New Message" window will open.

Add a brief but descriptive Subject line.  Use as few words as possible, as only 25-30 characters will be visible on the page.

Click in or tab to the message box and enter your material.  (Note:  Some platforms give a limited amount of time for data entry, and do not employ an automatic Spell Check program.  For optimum results, compose your message in Word, use the Spell Check program, and copy-and-paste the information to the message space.

Click "Preview" to see how your message will appear.  When ready, click "Submit."  Your message will appear at the bottom of the discussion thred list.


TO REPLY TO A DISCUSSION THREAD

Once you have clicked on the title of the original post, read it and decided to reply, click on the "Reply" button at the bottom of the message.

A "Your Response" window will open with the original title of the thread in the subject line.  Blackboard allows you to change the subject line if you wish. Remember to use few letters, as only the first few characters may appear on the page. (Note that the more responses to an original post, the shorter the subject lines tend to be).

Enter your reply in the Message box.  Click "Submit."

Your reply will be added, in chronological order, to the discussion thread.