What are Discussions?

Discussions are date-stamped when created, or replied to, and can be enhanced with any rich media such as video, images, pages, or files attachments. Private discussions can be initiated within student groups, which are not viewable by others within the course.

Instructors have the option to restrict students from creating new discussions in the Discussions settings. They can also restrict students from attaching files in Discussions. The file attachment permission applies to student groups, but the new discussions permissions does not as students can always create new discussions in their groups.

A discussion topic can be delayed in posting until a defined date. Instructors can add a rubric so the student will know how participation will be evaluated, or they can require students to post before reading another student's reply.

If the Discussion is marked as a graded assignment, the Canvas SpeedGrader™ isolates each student’s comments from the thread and combines them into one easily readable view for grading.

Use Discussions to:

• Help students start thinking about an upcoming Assignment or class discussion.
• Follow-up on a conversation or questions that began in a face-to-face classroom.
• Test student comprehension of important points made in class.
• Debate contradictory ideas.
• Brainstorm different approaches to a class problem.