Discussion group interface
The discussion group screen consists of three frames:
Menu frame
The menu frame contains the following elements:
Discussion group title
The title is important to identify the many discussion groups that may be contained within one course. Each will be used for a different learning activity.
Function buttons
The function buttons include:
- Home takes you to the course home page.
- Contents takes you back to the contents frame if you are viewing the discussion in the No frames mode.
- New message creates a new message.
- Search locates any word within the discussion.
- No frames view one frame at a time (either the content frame or the message frame).
- Read all view all messages at once.
Contents frame
The contents frame lists:
- Topic of the message.
- From whom the message was posted.
- Date on which the message was posted.
To sort the messages according to the topic, sender or date:
- Click on the underlined Topic, From or Date links, as indicated below.
Message frame
To read any of the messages listed in the contents frame:
- Click on the underlined message title in the Topic columnthe message will appear in the message frame.
To view all messages posted to the discussion:
- Click the Read all link in the menu frameall messages will appear in the message frame.
To display the previous message or the next message (if available) in the discussion thread:
- Click the Previous or Next link at the top of the message frame, as shown below (the Previous link is not active in this example because the message displayed is the first in the discussion thread):
To reply to a message:
- Click the Reply link at the top of the message frame, as shown above.