Creating a Forum

Getting started with my.navitasprofessional.edu.au
A resource for Teachers, including:
- Creating a Forum
Teacher Guide - Creating a Forum
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Creating a Forum
1) Once you have entered the class space, select the editing function by ‘Turn editing on’.
2) Select the appropriate week or topic section and click on the ‘Add an activity’ drop-down
menu and select ‘Forum’ as shown below.
Teacher Guide - Creating a Forum
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3) Once you have chosen the forum option, choose the type of forum that you would like to
create from the drop-down menu. An explanation of each forum type can be found on the next
page.
Choose the Subscription and
Read tracking settings for this
forum from the drop down
menus.
Majority of the time the Turnitin
setting should be disabled for
forums. If you are unsure, then
please contact the unit
coordinator.
Teacher Guide - Creating a Forum
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Different types of Discussion Forums
Different types of discussion forums and how to use them in your teaching:
a) A single simple discussion
Students will see the text you have placed in the Forum introduction as the first post of the discussion.
Only one Topic is introduced and discussed, therefore, this format is very useful for short, focused
discussions regarding a specific subject.
b) Each person posts one discussion
This forum type requires each forum member to post exactly one new Discussion Topic. In turn, other
members can reply as usual. This is a useful format should you wish to allow everyone the opportunity
to initiate a discussion Topic rather than solely (or instead of) the Forum Moderator.
c) Standard forum for general use
This format is probably one many existing forum users are most familiar: a Standard Forum is an open
forum and it permits anyone to start a new Topic. There can be many Topics within the Standard Forum
and anyone can introduce a new Topic. The standard forum is most useful for large discussions that you
intend to monitor/guide or for social forums that are student led.
d) Question and Answer forum
The Q & A forum is best used when you have a particular question that you wish to have answered. In a
Q and A forum, tutors post the question and students respond with possible answers. By default a Q and
A forum requires students to post once before viewing other students' postings. After the initial posting
and once the editing time (usually 30 minutes) has elapsed, students can view and respond to others'
postings. This feature allows equal initial posting opportunity among all students, thus encouraging
original and independent thinking.
Tips for Question and Answer forum
When the Question and Answer mode is selected, Moodle hides the replies to the initial thread post by
the teacher but not the entire forum itself.
Tip: Post each question as a thread in the forum by clicking ‘Add Discussion topic’ and then have
students post replies to the question.
Tip: Do not post the question in the forum summary.
Tip: If you have set up groups for your forum the lecturer needs to post a question to each of the groups
and not to 'all participants' as questions asked of all participants (students) are able to be read by ALL
Teacher Guide - Creating a Forum
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students. Questions posed to group members are only visible to those group members and replies are
only visible once a group member has posted a message.
Teacher Guide - Creating a Forum
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