Blackboard Updates: Discussion Board

In the newest version of Blackboard version 7.1, several new features will be added the Discussion Board that will change the overall direction of online communication.

Forum and Thread Grading
Grading settings will be available when creating or modifying a forum in a Course. When grading settings are enabled for a discussion forum, both Instructors and Teaching Assistants will be able to assign a grade to any discussion forum, post, or thread. If thread grading is enabled for the forum, Instructors have the option to turn grading on or off for each new thread.

Discussion Board Statistics
The total number of forums in which the user has participated is displayed for each user in this column. Clicking on the number in this column directs the instructor to a user detail page that displays links to all forums in which the user has participated and usage statistics for the user in each forum.

Rate Posting
Post rating allows users to rate posts in the forum on a scale of one to five stars. When enabled, post rating is a simple yet effective tool for peer review.

Thread Subscriptions
Subscribe to Thread feature can be used to notify both instructors and students each time a new post is added to the thread. The notification is enabled by the user and sent to the email address stored in the user's Personal Information.