Moodle Discussion Forums

Discussion Forum Settings

An explanation of the various settings that can be utilized in a Moodle discussion forum. These settings can be accessed when first adding a discussion forum to the course page or by turning editing on in the course page, clicking edit next to the discussion forum, and choosing edit settings.

General

Forum Name
Description
Forum Type

Availability

Due Date
Cut-off Date

Attachments and Word Count

Maximum Attachment Size
Maximum Number of Attachments
Display Word Count

Subscription and Tracking

Subscription Mode
Read Tracking

Discussion Locking

Lock Discussions After Period of Inactivity

Post Threshold for Blocking

Time Period for Blocking
Post Threshold for Blocking
Post Threshold for Warning

Ratings

Roles with Permission to Rate
Aggregate Type
Scale
Restrict Rating to Items with Dates in this Range

Common Module Settings

Availability
ID Number
Group Mode
Grouping
Add Group/Grouping Access Restriction

Restrict Access

Date

Grade

Group

Grouping

User Profile

Restriction Set

Activity Completion

Completion Tracking

Tags

 

 

Q and A Forums

Question and Answer forums can be used when you don't want students to see the responses of others before they respond to the discussion prompt. The setup for these forums is slightly different than a typical discussion forum.

Adding a Q and A Forum to a Course

Replying to a Q and A Forum

The process for replying to a Q and A Forum is different for students than a standard forum. It can be helpful to share the directions below with your students when first using a Q and A forum. Instructions can be found here - https://help.mlc-wels.edu/books/moodle-for-students/page/replying-to-q-and-a-forums. You can also share the link with your students.

Discussion Forum Overview

Discussion forums allow students to interact with each other asynchronously. There are a variety of settings that impact how students and instructors use discussion forums. Please view the rest of this chapter to learn how discussion forums function in Moodle.

Chapter Contents

Moodle Docs

Discussion Forum Types

There are five types of discussion forums to support participant collaboration and learning. Each type is described below and further explained on the Moodle Forum Activity page.

Standard Forum for General Use

Standard Forum Displayed in a Blog-like Format

Q and A Forum

Each Person Posts One Discussion

Single Simple Discussion