10.1 The Discussions Page

The Discussions Page allows you to see all of the discussions in the course.

Discussions: These are active discussions within the course and are ordered by the most recent activity.
Pinned Discussions: These are discussions that your instructor wants you to pay specific attention to and will appear at the top of the Discussions Index page. If your instructor has not pinned discussions, then this section does not appear.
Closed for Comments: These discussions have been manually closed for comments, or the discussion is past the available from/until date. These are discussions that are only available in a read-only state and are ordered by most recent activity.

Filter Discussions

You may filter by unread discussions by selecting the option from the drop-down menu in the top-left corner.
You can also search for a discussion by typing a discussion title, a user name, or a keyword in the "Search" field.

10.2 Opening a Discussion

Go to your course navigation menu and select "Discussions". You can then open the discussion by clicking its title.

Availability and Due Dates for Discussions

Discussions may have a due date and availability date. The due date is when the discussion must be completed before you are marked as late. The availability date is the start and end date of when you can participate in the discussion.

screenshot of the process outlined below

Graded Discussions

Discussions may be graded or ungraded. If the discussion that you open is graded, an alert is placed at the top of the discussion.

screenshot of the process outlined below

Marking Discussions Read

As you read the posts and replies from others in the discussion, a dot next to each post turns solid. Canvas automatically marks the posts as "Read" if you spend enough time viewing the post. You may also select the circle on the left of the post to mark the individual post as read, or select the 'More Options' button in the Discussion index at the top and choose manually "Mark as Read," so Canvas does not auto-mark the discussion as read.

10.3 Replying to a Discussion

You can easily reply to any discussion. In the discussion reply in the text entry editor, a word count will be displayed below the bottom-right corner of the text box.

Replying to a Discussion

To post to a discussion, click on "Reply." Use the text entry editor to compose your discussion post.
Click "Post Reply" when you are ready for other users to view your answer.

If enabled, you may be able to reply to a classmate’s post through a threaded reply.

Reply Restriction

Sometimes your lecturer may require that you reply to the discussion before seeing your classmates' posts. You will see a notification if this setting is turned on.

screenshot of the process outlined below

10.4 Adding an Image to a Discussion

When replying to a discussion, you can add images to your posts that you have found on the web, saved to your device, or that you have saved on Canvas.

Ways to Add an Image

To add an image to your discussion post, choose the "Image" option in the Text Entry Editor.

Use the "Computer" tab and select Upload Image to choose an image or use the drag and drop option. Add the file by clicking "Submit."
Use the "URL" tab to post an URL image.
Use the "Unsplash" tab to select images within the Creative Commons Public Domain. Add the image by clicking "Submit." (This option is currently disabled)

Ways to Add an Image - New RCE .gif

10.5 Attaching a File to a Discussion

Once you select "Reply," to a discussion thread, the text entry editor opens up. You will then have the option of attaching a file to your discussion reply.

Attaching a File Using the Attach File Link

Select the Attach link with the paperclip icon in the bottom-right of the Rich Content Editor.
Select "Choose File."
Your device’s hard drive will open.
Search for your file and select the file name.
Select "Open" or "Upload" depending on your device’s operating system.

Note: Your lecturer may not allow file uploads to some discussion replies.