How to Use Discussion Forums

Accessing Forums

Besides scrolling down to the specific module, a quick way to access your forums is by:

  1. Choosing the course.
  2. In the block drawer (you may need to expand it), scroll down until you see an “Activities“ block. Choose “Forums“.Forums option enclosed in a circle from the Activities block located in Moodle's block drawer
  3. Select the forum you wish to complete.

NOTE: If your instructor decided to remove the Activities block, you would have to manually search for discussion forums throughout the course modules.

Creating a Forum Post

  1. Once you have located the forum, read and follow the directions for the post. Depending on the forum type your instructor decided to use there are possibly two ways you can respond to the discussion topic.
  2. If it’s a Standard Forum, scroll down and click the “Add Discussion Topic” button.
  3. If it’s a Q & A Forum, click on your instructor’s post and select “Reply”.
    Please note, you will not be able to see your classmates’ replies until 30 minutes after you submitted your initial post.

    Arrow pointing to "Reply" option on instructor's post
  4. Fill out the forum’s subject and enter your response in the message text box.
  5. Once done, click “Post to Forum”.
    1. Indicating entering a subject for your post. 2. Displaying where to enter your response 3. Indicating once done, select the "Post to Forum" button


    Responding to a Forum Post

  6. Find a classmate’s post to read by looking under the “discussion” at the bottom of the forum if it’s a Standard Forum. For Q& A forums, you will have to click on your instructor’s post and see everyone’s replies below it.Example of classmates' posts from a Standard Forum
  7. After clicking the post, choose “Reply” in the bottom left corner of the forum to respond.
  8. Type your response in the text box. Be sure to follow any instructions your instructor provided to get the best grade possible.
  9. Click “Post to forum” when you are finished."Reply" button enclosed in a circle and arrow pointing to Post to Forum button

Deleting or Editing your Forum Post

Under “Discussion” (same location as the steps above) choose the forum you wrote.

In the bottom right corner choose “Delete” to remove your forum or “Edit” to make changes. You will only be allowed to make edits within the 30 minutes of you submitting your post.

Edit and Delete buttons enclosed in circle

Be sure to save your changes.