Here are a few tips for using the Discussion tool.
Subscribing to posts & managing subscriptions
Subscribing to a topic makes it easier for you to keep track of your classmates’ and instructor’s responses. Subscribing to a post means that you will receive a notifications whenever the topic is updated (such as when a classmate posts a thread). To subscribe to a topic, click on the arrow next to the the topic title and click the Subscribe link next to the star icon. From here, you can customize how Brightspace (D2L) will notify you when the discussion has been updated. You can choose to subscribe to an entire module, a topic, or to a particular thread. You can manage your subscriptions and change notification methods by clicking on the Subscriptions tab along the top of the main Discussions List page – you can change notifications for all subscriptions, or tailor each topic subscription individually. Learn how to customize your account to receive notifications about your subscriptions via email and text messages here.
Copying & pasting
The Discussion tool does not auto save your material, so if you become disconnected from the Internet while composing a post, you may lose it. It is recommended that you compose lengthy discussion posts off line using a word processor so that you have the body of your post saved. There are a number of paste options available in the Discussion tool. If you are copying from a Word document, it is recommended that you use the “Paste from Word” option, which can be found by clicking the “…” button at the top right of the text box window when you are composing a message. Using the Paste from Word option will allow you to retain any formatting you used in composing your post.
Adding attachments
When you are responding to a discussion thread, you have the option of adding a variety of attachments. When creating a response, click the Add Attachments link to see your attachment options. To add an attachment, you can drag and drop a file from your computer to the attachments box, or click the Upload button to select a file from your computer. You can also record a 90 second audio file, or choose an existing file that you have uploaded to Brightspace (D2L) in your Locker or in ePortfolio.
Reply settings
By default, when your reply to a post will include the text of the original post. You can change this by clicking on Settings at the top right corner of the Topic screen, and unchecking the box next to Include original post in reply.