Adding a forum

The default for this activity is a Standard forum for general use. Students are able to start new topics, reply to the lecturer's posts and can see each other’s replies. See notes on Forum types later in this help page.

Forums are not graded by default. See Grading forums for marking options.

1. Select the red Turn editing on button on the top right hand corner of your Moodle paper.
   
   

   

2. Next select Add an activity or resource under your chosen folder, such as Assessments.
   
   

   

3. Select Forum from the Add an activity or resource menu.
   

   

4. Give your forum a name, a Description and select the Forum type (the types are discussed at the bottom of this page)
   
   
5. Finally, select either Save and return to paper or Save and display.

   

Forum Types

• A single simple discussion
  Only one topic, started by the lecturer, is allowed. This is best suited for short-term, focused conversations.
• Each person posts one discussion
  Each student may start one new topic. Students are not limited in the number of replies they can post within those topics.
• Q and A forum
  A lecturer posts one topic, for example, posing a question to students. Students must post their response before they can view other students’ responses.
• Standard forum for general use
  Allows multiple topics arranged in a threaded conversation. Students may start new topics in this format.
• Standard forum displayed in a blog-like format
  Allows multiple topics listed with the most recent topic at the top of the page and replies behind a link. Students may start new topics in this format.

Anonymising posts

You can no longer be Anonymous on Forum posts; instead, there is a specific Anonymous discussion activity you can use. We have created a guide called Anonymous Discussions in which you can learn to do this.