Navigating the BlackBoard Discussion Boards

I have been reading a number of comments on Facebook, Twitter, and the even in the Discussion Boards that some people are having trouble navigating and understanding the Discussion Boards. So I have made and instructional video to help people along (see the Videos page)

Note this Tutorial is aimed at Curtin University's BlackBoard system.

In addition to the video tutorial here is the Step by Step guide!

1. Log in to Curtin's BlackBoard and select your Unit
   

1. Select Discussion Board from the menu on the left
   

1. We are taken to a page listing all the forum "Topics". Select one of the topics
   

1. Once in the Topic you will see all the "Threads" available. We are using the Welcome thread for this demo.
   

1. Once you click on the Thread you can see that there are LOTS of "posts" ore "replies" it makes it hard to know where to start!
   

There is a much easier way of displaying it all!

1. Go back one step to the Thread listings. From here click on the check box next to the Thread you want to view and press the Collect button.
   

1. You will now have all the replies on display (rather than having to click on each individual post)
   If you sort this list by "Ascending" you will be able to view them in the correct order from top to bottom.
   

A quick tip here: if you want to find your post – press CTRL+F and your browser will display a search box – enter what you want to search for (let's say your name) and it will find your post in the list this can make it easy to find if you have had a reply

1. If you go back to the Thread screen you will also notice that you can Subscribe to a thread
   

This will mean you get email updates whenever someone comments in this thread.

1. If you made a mistake in a comment you posted or want to add something you can also Modify your post
   

This will only be available on your posts
Enter the changes you want to make and click Submit

1. If you only want to view posts you haven't read yet click on the number of unread posts next to the thread you want to look at
   

The unread posts will be collected and displayed for you

1. Once you have read them be sure to Select All and Mark as Read (as when you use the collect method it does not mark them as read for you)
   By doing this you will be able to easily see when something new is posted
   

That is the conclusion of my BlackBoard Discussion Board tutorial. A video of this tutorial is available under the Videos section of this blog.

I hope you have found this useful be sure to recommend to others or leave me a comment.

Thanks J