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Canvas Discussions are a way for instructors to facilitate asynchronous interaction between students. Students can see and respond to their peers' responses to a topic.
This article covers the following topics:
- Click on Discussions from the course navigation.
- Click the +Add Discussion button in the top-right corner.
- Name the discussion in the Topic Title and add instructions.
Choose the specific Options for your discussion
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Anonymous Discussion: The default value is Off, which means student names and profile pictures will be visible to other members of this course. When anonymity is enabled for a discussion, grading and group features are not supported.
When an anonymous discussion exists in the course, the Discussions page indicates anonymous discussions before a student opens the discussion. Users with a teacher, TA, or designer role in the course will never be anonymous. However, student names and profile pictures are hidden from other course members, including teachers.
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Disallow threaded replies: It's recommended to leave this unchecked. When threaded replies are allowed, users' responses are indented as they respond to one another and students can respond directly to replies.
- Users must post before seeing replies: they cannot view other responses to the prompt or discussion until they have responded themselves first.
- Graded: When enabled, you can assign a grade value and specify the Assignment Group to which the discussion will be assigned. Instructors can choose to grade or not grade discussions. If a student attaches a file to an ungraded discussion, the file size counts toward the student's storage quotas (50 MB). However, attachments added to graded discussions do not count toward the student's storage quotas. This is especially important if you are asking students to attach presentation files which can be very large.
- If you choose to grade the assignment, Set points possible, display points as, and add the Discussion to an assignment group.
- Allow liking: allow users to "Like" responses from other users, which mirrors a social media experience.
- Group Discussion: Use this option if you have created Groups in your course and want students to discuss only with members of that group. Please note that only group members can view the group discussion. See How do I create a Group discussion for detailed instructions.
Select Default Viewing Options
- Default Viewing State for Threads: Choose Expanded or Collapsed. You can also lock the thread state for students, preventing them from changing it.
- Default Sort Order: Select how you want to view posts by default, Oldest First or Newest First. You can also lock the sort order for students, preventing them from changing it.
Visit the Canvas Community for detailed instructions on creating discussions.
NOTE: This option must be enabled in your Canvas Account. Submit a ticket to support@stedwards.edu if you'd like to enable it.
When the Discussion Checkpoints feature option is enabled, instructors can set multiple due dates or checkpoints for graded discussions to accommodate different stages of the discussion process, such as the initial post and follow-up replies. This option does change grading for discussions, especially if you are using rubrics.
To enable Discussion Checkpoints, edit a discussion and check (1) Graded and then (2) Assign Graded Checkpoints.
Instructors must include the possible points for the initial reply to topic (1), the number of additional replies required (2) and the possible points for additional replies (3). All points are calculated automatically and listed as the Total Points Possible (4).
In addition to points and number of replies, instructors can set different due dates for initial posts and replies.
When a discussion is added to a module, students can view all due dates and the number of replies required for a discussion. In the discussion itself, students can click on View Due Dates to see the dates. A Due Dates tray displays with all due dates for the initial response and additional replies.
In the Gradebook, discussion checkpoints are displayed in Speedgrader with two separate sections: 1) The Reply to Topic grade and 2) The Required Replies Grade. If you use a Canvas Rubric, you can still view and use the rubric for grading, but the rubric total grade will not automatically update the Reply to Topic or Required Replies Grade.
The toolbar at the top of the discussion is displayed based on the settings chosen. By default:
- Oldest replies display at the top of the first page. Users can sort replies from newest to oldest, or oldest to newest.
- Threads are expanded. Users can also collapse all existing threads.
To see the replies, users must click the 1) number of replies under a discussion reply. Then, 2) the replies will appear below. You can also use 3) the options button to mark a thread as read or unread, edit, or quote.
Note: If the Discussion requires students to post before seeing replies, they will need to reply first before viewing their classmates' replies.
Users can mention other users in discussion replies by using the @ symbol. All available users in the course display in the drop-down menu.
- Add your reply, links, files, and other media in the Rich Content Editor [1].
- To mention a user in your reply, type the @ symbol [2] and select a user from the list [3].
- To post your reply, click the "Reply" button [4].
Users can quote other replies as part of their discussion reply. A quoted reply will @mention the post's author and quote the first line of the original post.
- Click on the Options menu.
- Select Quote Reply.
You can grade and provide feedback on graded discussion submissions and graded group discussion submissions in SpeedGrader. Discussion replies will display individually, but the replies can also be viewed in the context of the full discussion in SpeedGrader.
- Navigate to the discussion that requires grading, then select the three dots directly to the right of it.
- Select a student with a submission (indicated by a colored dot and student name in bold)
- View the student's discussion replies. Older replies are listed at the top with newer replies listed below.
- To view the discussion replies in the context of the full discussion, click the view the full discussion link [1].
If the discussion replies are part of a graded group discussion, you can view the discussion replies in the context of the full group discussion by clicking the view the full group discussion link [2].
Note: To return to SpeedGrader from the full discussion, use your internet browser's back button.
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To enter a grade for the submission, enter the grade in the Grade field [1].
If you added a rubric to the discussion, you can view the rubric by clicking the View Rubric button [2].
Discussion Summary is a new Generative AI feature in Canvas for instructors that automatically generates a summary of a discussion thread. This summary highlights the key points and themes of the discussion, making it easier for instructors to assess student participation and understanding more efficiently.
Once a discussion has concluded, instructors can generate a summary by clicking the “Summarize” button in the discussion settings. This button is only visible to instructors, not students.
See Discussion Summary in Canvas for detailed instructions and tips for using.
Resources
View the complete guide to Using Discussions in the Canvas Community.
See How do I grade a discussion for more detail on grading.