Accessing Discussions

In order to access the discussions page, teachers must make sure they are currently in a class. From here, they can click on the Discussions tab on the left side of the page. If you cannot locate the discussions tab, check the custom tabs setting in the setup class tab.


A look at the discussions page

Upon entering the discussions page, teachers will see several different features to help them navigate through the page:

  • A [+] Create Discussion button and Restore Deleted Discussions button (RED)
  • Name of discussion (RED)
  • Filter By (Only student posts) dropdown and Sort By dropdown (BLUE)
    • For the Sort By dropdown, teachers can sort their discussions by the newest/oldest publish date or the newest/oldest due date.
  • Number of posts button (ORANGE)
  • Two different publishing buttons (PURPLE)
  • (From left to right) Copy discussion, Edit discussion, Delete discussion (YELLOW)
  • A section for student statistics - This displays the number of students that have posted, the average post per student, and a dropdown the number of students and the list of students who have not posted. (GREEN)

Similar to assignments and assessments, teachers will also see the notification (circled in red) that will take the teacher to the quick grader page for that discussion (similar to the What needs grading widget).


How to create a Discussion

After clicking on the [+] Create Discussion button, teachers will be taken to the creation screen where they can adjust a few settings before fully creating the discussion. 


The editor view is essentially the prompt for the discussion and is viewed at the top of the discussions for students as in the view tab and teachers will be able to add content and a banner image there. Question content blocks are not available for discussions but the presentational ones are available for use. For more information on content blocks, please see our article on content formats. Also, please view our article on banner images for better assistance with adding banner images.


All settings will be located on the Settings tab after teachers have finished clicking Create.


The different settings for discussions are:

  • General Details
  • Publish and Due Date
  • Discussion Settings (See below for more)
  • Grading
  • Assigning
  • Advanced Settings
    • One different Advanced Setting than assignments and assessments is teachers can share the discussion outside of the class so the discussion can be in other classes (Pictured below).

For more information on some of the discussion settings, please view our article on activity settings.


Discussion Settings

The Discussion Settings are settings that can only be seen in discussions and allows teachers to setup a discussion uniquely for students.

The different discussion settings are:

  • Student must post before seeing other students' post.
  • Require audio submission - An audio file must be submitted for the discussion.
  • Require video submission - A video file must be submitted for the discussion.
  • 1-on-1 Discussion - Students will not be able to see other student's posts and will only be able to reply to the teacher.
  • Student can update posts - Students can update their previously submitted discussion posts.
  • Allow advanced editor - Students will have the ability to use eKadence's advanced editing tool.
  • Allow audio submission - Students can submit an audio file.
  • Allow video submission - Students can submit a video file.
  • Allow anonymous posts - Students will have their names removed from other student's posts. Only the teacher will be able to see student's names.
  • Minimum number of words (only on their initial post) - Students will need to write a minimum number of words to submit their discussion post.
  • Minimum number of words (when replying to others) - Students will need to write a minimum number of words to reply to another student's discussion post.
  • Must reply to [__#__] people - Students must reply to a certain number of people upon the teacher's request.