The Discussion Board is an outcomes-based learning tool that can be applied in a number of ways to enhance learning and measure performance.
The table below outlines the terms used to describe Discussion Board features.
|
Term |
Definition |
| Thread |
The initial post and the entire series of replies to that post within a Discussion Board Forum. |
| Thread Detail |
The page that displays the threaded view of all posts in a thread along with the selected post. |
| Post |
A Discussion Board entry posted to a thread or used to start a thread. Also used as a verb to refer to the act of submitting a post. |
| Forum Role |
A role type that is assigned to all members of the Discussion Board for each Forum and enables specific privileges within the Forum. A user may have one role per Forum, however, a user’s role in each Forum may differ. |
| Blocked |
A Forum Role that blocks the user from accessing the Forum. |
| Reader |
A Forum Role that grants the user the rights to read the contents of a Forum. Users with this role may only view content and cannot add or respond to posts. |
| Participant |
A Forum Role that grants the user read and write privileges in the Forum. |
| Grader |
A Forum Role that grants the user Participant privileges as well as the Grading privileges for the Forum. |
| Moderator |
A Forum Role that grants Participant privileges as well as the ability to modify, delete, and lock posts. If a Moderation Queue is used, the Moderator may also approve or reject posts in the queue. |
| Manager |
A Forum Role that grants all privileges. |
| GradeForum |
The process of assigning a Grade to a user for their performance in a Forum. |
| Grade Thread |
The process of assigning a Grade to a user for their performance in a thread. |
| Rate Post |
The process of evaluating a post based on a fixed, 5 point scale. |
| Collect Posts |
The process of selecting one or more posts or threads for inclusion in on a page that can be sorted, filtered, printed, and saved as a document. The collection is gathered into a format that can be sorted, filtered, printed, and saved as a document that can be viewed in a browser. |
| Flag |
A mark used to call attention to the post. |
| Copy Forum |
The process of creating a clone of a Forum or the Forum settings in the same discussion board or in another discussion board in the same Course or Organization. |
| Save Posts |
The act of saving a post as a draft. |
| Published Post |
A post that has been submitted and, if necessary, approved by a moderator. |
| Post Position |
The position of a post in a thread relative to the other posts. |
| Draft |
A post that has been saved for future editing. |
| Locked Thread |
A thread that is visible for reading but cannot be modified. Users may not post to a locked thread. |
| Unavailable Thread |
A thread that is hidden and inaccessible to all users except Forum Managers. |
| Hidden Thread |
A Thread that is locked and not visible by default. Users may view hidden threads by enabling the Display Hidden Threads feature. |
| Moderation Queue |
A list of posts that must be approved before they will appear in the Discussion Board. |