Skip to content

E
edx-platform
Commit 686ca3d7 by srpearce
Options

Merge pull request #5583 from edx/sylvia/docs/SFD_Discussions 

Sylvia/docs/sfd discussions
parents 26c01dff 850c3a90
Showing with 837 additions and 2 deletions
docs/en_us/students/source/change_log.rst 0 → 100644
############
Change Log
############
*****************
October 2014
*****************
.. list-table::
:widths: 10 70
:header-rows: 1
* - Date
- Change
* - 10/24/14
- Added :ref:`Course Discussions` section
.. _Preface: http://edx.readthedocs.org/projects/edx-partner-course-staff/en/latest/
\ No newline at end of file
docs/en_us/students/source/index.rst
......@@ -11,6 +11,8 @@ edX Guide for Students
:numbered:
:maxdepth: 2
change_log
SFD_certificates
SFD_mathformatting
SFD_ORA
\ No newline at end of file
SFD_ORA
sfd_discussions/index
\ No newline at end of file
docs/en_us/students/source/sfd_discussions/add_post.rst 0 → 100644
.. _Add or Edit a Contribution:
#########################################################
Add, Edit, or Delete a Post, Response, or Comment
#########################################################
You can add, edit, or delete contributions to discussions from inside the course
or from the **Discussion** page.
* :ref:`Add a Post`
* :ref:`Add Response`
* :ref:`Edit or Delete`
************************************
Add a Post, Response, or Comment
************************************
.. _Add a Post:
==============
Add a Post
==============
When you add a post to the course discussions, you'll determine the post type
and the post topic, and then you'll add the post either directly inside the
course unit or on the **Discussion** page.
.. _Determine Post Type:
Determine the Post Type: Discussion or Question
**************************************************
To make sure that other students and the course team can find and respond to
your post, determine the type for your post: either question or discussion.
* A *question* post raises an issue so that the discussion staff and community can
provide answers.
* A *discussion* post starts a conversation by sharing thoughts and
reflections, and inviting community participation.
If you have any difficulty deciding which type of post you want to add, think
about whether you want to get concrete information (a question) or start an
open-ended conversation (a discussion).
.. note:: You can change the post type from discussion to question or vice versa at any time after you add your post. For more information, see :ref:`Edit or Delete`.
.. _Determine Post Topic:
Determine the Post Topic
*************************
Every post in the course discussions has an associated topic. The course team
creates the list of discussion topics for each course, and you'll choose a topic
from the list when you create your post. Before you add a post, you should look
through the list of topics in the course discussions so that you can decide
which topic is the most appropriate for your post. For more information, see
:ref:`Explore Posts`.
After you've decided on a post type and topic, you can add your post on the
**Discussion** page or in the body of the course.
Add a Post on the Discussion Page
************************************
You can add a post for course-wide or content-specific discussion
topics on the **Discussion** page.
#. Click the **Discussion** page.
#. In the upper-right corner, click **New Post**.
#. Click **Question** or **Discussion** to select the type of post that you want
to create.
#. Select the most appropriate discussion topic for your post.
.. image:: /Images/Discussion_course_wide_post.png
:width: 300
:alt: Selecting the topic for a new post on the Discussion page
5. In the **Title** box, supply a short, descriptive title. The title is the
part of your post that others see when they are browsing on the
**Discussion** page or scrolling through one of the content-specific topics.
#. Enter the complete text of your post. To format the text or add links or
images, click the buttons above the text field.
In a few courses, you can add posts, responses, and comments anonymously. If
this is the case, you'll see a **Post Anonymously** check box under the field
where you enter your text. When you post anonymously, discussion staff can see your
username, but other students cannot.
Add a Post in a Course Unit
************************************
If you come to a discussion as you work through the units in your course, or if
you know where in the course a particular discussion originates, you can add a
post for that discussion right from the unit in your course. This only applies
to content-specific discussions.
#. Click **Courseware**.
#. Open the unit in the course that includes the discussion topic that you want
to add to.
#. Click **Show Discussion** to read what others have already contributed to the
conversation.
You can scroll through the posts that have already been added: the title and
the first sentence or two of each post appear. To read an entire post, view
the responses to it, and see any comments, click **Expand discussion**.
4. Click **New Post** to add a post.
.. image:: /Images/Discussion_content_specific_post.png
:width: 500
:alt: Adding a post about specific course content
5. Click **Question** or **Discussion** to select the type of post you want to
create.
#. In the **Title** field, enter a short, descriptive identifier for your post.
The title is the part of your post that others see when they are browsing on
the **Discussion** page or scrolling through one of the content-specific
topics.
#. Enter the complete text of your post. Click the buttons above the text field
to see options for formatting the text and for adding links or images.
In a few courses, you can add posts, responses, and comments anonymously. If
this is the case, you'll see a **Post Anonymously** check box under the field
where you enter your text. When you post anonymously, discussion staff can see your
username, but other students cannot.
.. _Add Response:
==============================
Add a Response or Comment
==============================
To participate in an ongoing discussion, you reply to the initial post by
adding a response, or expand on a particular response by adding a comment.
The same options for formatting the text and for adding links or images are
available for responses and comments as for posts.
Add a Response or Comment on the Discussion Page
**************************************************
You can add a response or comment to course-wide or content-specific discussion
topics on the **Discussion** page.
#. On the **Discussion** page, find the post that you want to contribute to. To
help you decide where to add your thoughts, review the current responses and
their comments.
For more information about finding posts by searching, sorting, or using
filters, see :ref:`Explore Posts`.
#. Add a response or comment.
- To add a response to the post, click **Add A Response**. When your response
is complete, click **Submit**.
.. image:: /Images/Discussion_add_response.png
:width: 500
:alt: The **Add A Response** button located between a post and its
responses
- To add a comment to a response, click inside the **Add a comment** field below
the response. When your comment is complete, click **Submit**.
Add a Response or Comment in a Course Unit
*******************************************
You can add a response or comment to a content-specific discussion
topic inside the course.
#. In the unit that contains the discussion topic where you want to make
your contribution, click **Show Discussion**.
#. Scroll to the post that you want to contribute to. To help you decide
where to add your thoughts, review the current responses and their comments.
#. Under the text of the post, click **Expand discussion**.
.. image:: /Images/Discussion_expand.png
:width: 500
:alt: The **Expand discussion** link under a post
4. Add a response or comment.
- To add a response to the post, click **Add A Response**. When your response
is complete, click **Submit**.
- To add a comment to a response, click inside the **Add a comment** field below
the response. When your comment is complete, click **Submit**.
.. _Edit or Delete:
*******************************************
Edit or Delete a Post, Response, or Comment
*******************************************
You can edit or delete your own posts, responses, or comments at any time. You
cannot edit or delete contributions from other students.
#. Locate the contribution that you want to edit or delete, either in the body
of the course or on the **Discussion** page.
#. In the upper-right corner of the contribution, click the "More" icon (...). A
menu opens.
.. image:: /Images/Disc_EditDelete.png
:width: 500
:alt: Response with the "More" menu expanded, showing Edit, Delete, and Report options
#. Edit or delete the contribution.
- To edit the contribution, click **Edit**, make the changes that you want in
the text editor that opens, and then click **Update Response**. For posts,
you can change the post topic and the post type as well as the text of the
post.
- To delete the contribution, click **Delete**, and then click **OK** in the
pop-up confirmation box.
docs/en_us/students/source/sfd_discussions/anatomy.rst 0 → 100644
.. _Anatomy of edX Course Discussions:
#######################################
Anatomy of edX Course Discussions
#######################################
********************************************************************
Basic Elements: Posts, Responses, and Comments
********************************************************************
Discussions are made up of *posts*, *responses*, and *comments*. Together,
posts, responses, and comments are known as *contributions*, and a post together
with its responses and comments is an *exchange*.
* *Posts* initiate a conversation by asking a question or making a statement for
students to consider.
* *Responses* reply directly to the post.
* *Comments*, in turn, reply to specific responses.
The following conversation shows each of these contributions:
::
Post: "Please introduce yourself."
- Response: "My name is Lee and I teach secondary school maths in Canberra,
Australia."
- Response: "Hello everyone, I am Sumei from Hong Kong, China."
- Comment: "Hi Sumei, I am taking this course in Hong Kong too. Maybe we
should make a study group!"
- Comment: "I'd like to join the Hong Kong study group too, I think it
will help me keep up with the homework."
- Response: "Hi from Johannesburg! I am taking the course to prepare for my
matric exams."
You can see posts, comments, and responses, as well as other information about
the course discussions and individual posts, on the **Discussion** page.
**********************************
The Discussion Page
**********************************
When you go to the **Discussion** page in your course, you'll see a page that
looks like the following image. You can click the image to enlarge it.
.. image:: /Images/DiscussionHomeCallouts.png
:width: 800
:alt: Discussion home page with a topics pane on the left side and "How to use edX discussions" pane on the right
=============
List of Posts
=============
The list of posts in the left pane lists titles and information for all the
individual posts in the course. The list of posts also has filters that you can
use to sort discussions by topic, status, and activity.
The list of posts includes the following elements.
1. The drop-down Discussion list. When you click this list, you can
see all of the topics in the course discussions, or you can view only the posts that you're currently following. For more information about discussion topics, see :ref:`Discussion Topics`. For more information about following posts, see :ref:`Follow Posts`.
2. The status filter. You can filter discussions that you haven't read or that
contain unanswered questions. For more information, see :ref:`Answer
Questions`.
3. Specific identifiers. If an instructor has pinned a post, if you're
following a post, or if the person who created the post is a community TA,
moderator, or administrator, you'll see a colored identifier with this
information.
4. The title of the post. The title lets you know what the post is about.
5. The post type. A post can be a question or a discussion. For more
information, see :ref:`Determine Post Type`.
6. A "correct answer" status indicator. The green check mark indicates that one
of the responses to the post correctly answers the question that the post
asks.
7. The post search box. You can search all posts, responses, and comments for
individual words or phrases. For more information, see :ref:`Search Discussions`.
8. The activity sorting control. You can sort discussions by recent activity,
most activity, or most votes. For more information, see :ref:`Keep Up with
New Activity`.
9. Status indicators. These indicators show whether you've read a post and the
responses and comments for that post. For more information, see :ref:`Keep Up
with New Activity`.
===========
Right Pane
===========
When you click the **Discussion** tab, the right pane opens to a home page that
lists ways that you can interact with posts. Each of these interactions is
covered later in this topic. For more information, see the following sections:
* :ref:`Explore Posts`
* :ref:`Follow Posts`
* :ref:`Provide Feedback`
On the home page, you can also specify that you want to receive an email message
each day that summarizes discussion activity for the posts you are following. To
receive this daily digest, select the **Receive updates** check box.
.. image:: ../Images/Disc_ReceiveUpdates.png
:width: 400
:alt: The right pane with the Receive Updates check box circled
After you click the title of a post, the right pane shows the original post,
responses to the post, and comments on responses. The page is formatted to help
distinguish between posts, responses, and comments:
* The post and its title appear at the top of the page.
* Responses appear indented and with a white background below the original post.
* Comments on a response appear with a gray background below the response. The
font size for comments is smaller than the font size for responses.
These elements appear in the image below. You can click the image to enlarge it.
.. image:: ../Images/Disc_PostsEtc.png
:width: 600
:alt: Discussion page with a specific post selected in the left pane and the
post, responses, and comments in the right pane
Additionally, in the upper-right corner of every post, response, and comment, you can see several option icons. The icons that you see depend on the type of contribution. (For more information, see :ref:`Provide Feedback`.)
.. image:: ../Images/Disc_OptionIcons.png
:width: 450
:alt: A single post with the option icons on the right circled
The icons that you see may include the following:
* A plus sign (+), together with the number of votes the post has received.
Click this icon to vote for the post or response. For more information, see
:ref:`Vote for Posts or Responses`.
* A star (posts only). Click this icon if you want to follow the post. For more
information, see :ref:`Follow Posts`.
* A check mark (responses only). For questions, the student who posted the
question, or discussion staff, can use this icon to indicate that the response is
correct. For more information, see :ref:`Answer Questions`.
* An ellipsis, or "more", icon (...). When you click this icon, you may see several additional options:
* **Edit**. This option is only visible if you are the author of the post,
response, or comment. You can change the text of your contribution, or, for
posts, you can change the type of post. For more information, see :ref:`Edit or Delete`.
* **Delete**. This option is only visible if you are the author of the post,
response, or comment. For more information, see :ref:`Edit or Delete`.
* **Report**. You can use this option to report an inappropriate post,
response, or comment. For more information, see :ref:`Report Discussion
Misuse`.
docs/en_us/students/source/sfd_discussions/discussions.rst 0 → 100644
.. _Course Discussions:
####################
Course Discussions
####################
Course discussions give you the opportunity to start conversations with other
students, ask questions that other students or course staff can answer, and
participate in the course community. If you have not previously participated in
an online discussion forum, see the introductory :ref:`Anatomy of edX Course
Discussions` section.
This chapter also describes features of edX discussions that can make your
participation more effective:
* :ref:`Explore Posts`
* :ref:`Add or Edit a Contribution`
* :ref:`Keep Up with New Activity`
* :ref:`Provide Feedback`
docs/en_us/students/source/sfd_discussions/explore_posts.rst 0 → 100644
.. _Explore Posts:
#########################
Explore Posts
#########################
Finding out whether someone else has already asked the same question or
initiated a conversation about the subject that interests you, and then
reading and contributing to that exchange instead of starting a new one, helps
make the time that everyone spends with the course discussions more productive.
You can search for something specific, or you can browse through the posts in a
single discussion topic.
.. _Search Discussions:
******************************
Search the Discussions
******************************
To search for text, click **All Discussions** and enter a phrase, a word, or part of
a word in the **Search all posts** field above the list of posts. When you
press Enter, the search tries to find:
* A match or close match to your text in any post, response, or comment. The
display updates to show a list of the posts that have a match at any level of
interaction.
* A similar value in any post, response, or comment (if no exact matches are
found). A "No results found for {text}. Showing results for {similar}"
message appears above the posts that have similar text at any interaction
level.
* Any usernames that are an exact match to your text. A "Show posts by
{username}" option appears above any posts that have an exact text match at
any interaction level. Click the username in the message to read that user's
posts, responses, and comments. For more information about viewing
contributions from a specific user, see :ref:`View from Participant`.
.. _Discussion Topics:
*********************************************
View Discussions about a Specific Topic
*********************************************
Every post in the course discussions has an associated topic. When a participant
creates a post, the participant selects a topic from a list of topics that the
course team has provided. You can look through topics in the discussions to find
one that you're interested in.
Discussion topics for edX courses can be *course-wide* or *content-specific*.
* *Course-wide* discussion topics cover matters that affect the entire course,
and may include topics such as "Frequently Asked Questions" and
"Troubleshooting".
* *Content-specific* discussion topics cover specific video lectures, reading
assignments, homework problems, or other course content.
=======================================
View Topics on the Discussion Page
=======================================
On the **Discussion** page, you can view both course-wide and content-specific
discussions. Click **All Discussions** in the upper left corner of the left pane
to see all discussion topics in the course. To see all the discussions in an
individual topic, click the topic name.
Note that course-wide topics do not have other topics indented below them, while
content-specific topics are indented under a category name. For content-specific
topics, you can click either the category name to see all the posts in that
category, or you can click an individual topic name.
.. image:: /Images/Disc_TopicList.png
:width: 400
:alt: Discussion topic list expanded, showing all course discussion topics
=======================================
View Topics in a Course Unit
=======================================
Content-specific topics are located in specific units in the course. They typically appear below the content they apply to.
You can access a content-specific topic by viewing the unit that
contains the topic. To see the discussion, click **Show Discussion**.
.. image:: /Images/Discussion_content_specific.png
:width: 500
:alt: A discussion topic that appears below text inside the course, identified
by a "Show Discussion" link
You can also use the **Discussion** page to access a discussion in the unit
where that topic is located.
#. In the list of topics, click the topic that you want.
#. Click the name of a post to open the post in the right pane.
#. In the right pane, click the name of the discussion topic below the text of
the post to go to the discussion inside the unit.
.. image:: /Images/Disc_LinkToCourse.png
:width: 800
:alt: Post on the Discussion page with a link back to the course unit
*****************************************
View Only Unread or Unanswered Posts
*****************************************
To limit the posts shown on the **Discussion** page, you can select one of the
filter options. Above the list of posts, the **Show all** filter is selected by
default.
* To list only the discussions and questions that you have not yet viewed,
select **Unread**.
* To list only question posts that do not yet have any responses marked as
answers, select **Unanswered**.
.. image:: /Images/Disc_Unread.png
:width: 300
:alt: List of unread topics with the "Unread" filter circled
*****************************************
View Pinned Posts
*****************************************
Pinned posts appear at the top of the list of posts when you view all
discussions. Pinned posts can contain important information about the course or
any part of the course, such as a particular video or problem. The pinned post
may originate from anyone in the course, including students and staff, but only
members of course staff can pin posts.
.. image:: /Images/Disc_Pinned.png
:width: 300
:alt: Short list of posts with the "pinned" identifier circled
.. _View from Participant:
*************************************************
View Contributions from a Specific Participant
*************************************************
You can review all the posts, responses, and comments that a specific
participant has made, both for students and for course staff. To do this, click
the username that appears at the top of any of the participant's contributions. A page
opens that shows the following information about the participant.
* The participant's username.
* The participant's role (for example, student or community TA).
* The number of posts the participant has created (listed in the upper-left corner
as the number of discussions started).
* The total number of responses and comments the participant has added to other
posts (listed in the upper-left corner as the number of comments).
* A list of all the posts that contain a contribution from the participant,
whether the participant created the original post or contributed a response or
comment to a different post. The list of posts includes the title of the post
and the username of the participant who created the post. To see the comments
or responses on any post, click **View Discussion** below the post to open the
discussion on the **Discussion** page.
.. image:: /Images/Disc_UserContributions.png
:width: 800
:alt: Page that lists the posts that a user has added or contributed to
docs/en_us/students/source/sfd_discussions/index.rst 0 → 100644
.. _Course Discussions Index:
######################################
Student Guide to Course Discussions
######################################
.. toctree::
:maxdepth: 3
discussions
anatomy
explore_posts
add_post
keep_up
provide_feedback
\ No newline at end of file
docs/en_us/students/source/sfd_discussions/keep_up.rst 0 → 100644
.. _Keep Up with New Activity:
################################
Keep Up with New Activity
################################
.. _Read New or Updated Posts:
****************************
Read New or Updated Posts
****************************
The list of posts on the **Discussion** page provides visual cues to help you
distinguish posts that are new, or that have responses or comments that you have
not read yet, from exchanges that you have already read completely.
==================
Sort by Activity
==================
Color-coded callout images appear when you sort the list of posts **by recent
activity** or **by most activity**. This is the default view when you open the
**Discussion** page.
* A **gray callout image on a gray background** indicates that you have read the
post and all of its responses and comments.
* A **white callout image on a gray background** indicates that you have read the
original post, but the post has new responses or comments that you have not
read yet.
* A **blue callout image on a white background** indicates that you have not yet
read the post.
.. image:: /Images/Discussion_colorcoding.png
:alt: The list of posts with posts showing differently colored backgrounds
and callout images
The number in each callout image indicates the total number of contributions in
the exchange (the post and its responses and comments). To see the number of
contributions that you haven't read yet, move your cursor over the callout
image.
.. image:: /Images/Discussion_mouseover.png
:width: 300
:alt: A post with 4 contributions total and a popup that shows only two are
unread
==================
Sort by Votes
==================
You can also sort the list of posts by number of votes. To do this, click the
sorting list in the upper-right corner of the list of posts, and then click **by
most votes**.
If you sort by most votes, the number of votes that the post has received
appears in place of the callouts. For more information, see :ref:`Vote for Posts
or Responses`.
.. image:: /Images/Disc_SortByVotes.png
:width: 300
:alt: A list of posts sorted by votes, with the number of votes to the right of
the post title
****************************
Receive Daily Digests
****************************
You have the option to receive an email message each day that summarizes
discussion activity for the posts you are following. To receive this daily
digest, click **Discussion** to go to the discussions home page, and then select
the **Receive updates** check box in the right pane.
.. image:: /Images/Disc_RecUpdatesBox.png
:width: 500
:alt: Discussion home page with the Receive Updates check box circled
docs/en_us/students/source/sfd_discussions/provide_feedback.rst 0 → 100644
.. _Provide Feedback:
###############################################
Provide Feedback on Contributions
###############################################
As you read the contributions that other students and staff make to discussion
topics, you can provide feedback without writing a complete response or
comment. You can:
* :ref:`Vote for posts and responses<Vote for Posts or Responses>` to provide
positive feedback.
* :ref:`Follow posts<Follow Posts>` so that you can check back in on
interesting conversations and questions easily.
* :ref:`Answer questions, and mark your questions as answered<Answer
Questions>`.
* :ref:`Report a contribution<Report Discussion Misuse>` that is inappropriate
to the course staff.
To select a feedback option, you use the icons at the top right of each post,
response, or comment. When you move your cursor over these icons a label
appears.
.. image:: /Images/Discussion_options_mouseover.png
:width: 300
:alt: The icons at top right of a post, shown before the cursor is
placed over each one and with the Vote, Follow, and More labels
When you click the "More" icon, a menu of available options opens. Options vary
depending on whether the contribution is a post, response, or comment, and on
whether you are a student or a member of discussion staff.
.. image:: /Images/Discussion_More_menu.png
:width: 300
:alt: The More icon expanded to show a menu with one option and a menu with
three options
.. _Vote for Posts or Responses:
************************************
Vote for Posts or Responses
************************************
If you like a post or one of its responses, you can vote for it. Hover over the plus sign (+) icon for the post or response, and then click **Vote**.
.. image:: /Images/Disc_Vote.png
:width: 500
:alt: A post with the Vote icon circled
You can sort the list of posts so that the posts with the most votes appear at
the top: click the drop-down list of sorting options and select **by most
votes**.
.. image:: /Images/Disc_SortByVotes.png
:width: 300
:alt: The list of posts with the "by most votes" sorting option and the
number of votes for the post circled
You can see the number of votes that each post has received in the list of posts.
(Votes for responses are not included in the number.)
.. _Follow Posts:
************************************
Follow Posts
************************************
If you find a post particularly interesting and want to return to it in the
future, you can follow it. To follow a post, hover over the star icon for the
post, and then click **Follow**.
.. image:: /Images/Discussion_follow.png
:width: 500
:alt: A post with the Follow icon circled
Each post that you follow appears with a "Following" indicator in the list of
posts.
To list only the posts that you are following, regardless of the discussion
topic they apply to, click the drop-down Discussion list and select
**Posts I'm Following**.
.. image:: /Images/Disc_Following.png
:width: 300
:alt: The list of posts with the "Posts I'm Following" filter selected. Every
post in the list shows the following indicator.
.. _Answer Questions:
********************************************************
Answer Questions and Mark Questions as Answered
********************************************************
Anyone in a course can answer questions. Just add a response with your answer to
the question post.
You can indicate that a response to your own question post is the correct
answer. To do this, hover over the check mark icon for the response, and then
click **Mark as Answer**.
.. image:: /Images/Disc_AnswerQuestion.png
:width: 500
:alt: A question and a response, with the Mark as Answer icon circled
After at least one response is marked as the answer, a check or tick mark image
replaces the question mark image for the post in the list of posts.
.. image:: /Images/Disc_AnsweredInList.png
:width: 300
:alt: The list of posts with images identifying unanswered and answered
questions and discussions
.. note:: Discussion staff can mark any response as correct. Students can only mark responses as correct for their own posts.
.. _Report Discussion Misuse:
************************************
Report Discussion Misuse
************************************
You can flag any post, response, or comment for a discussion moderator to
review: view the contribution, click the "More" icon, and then click
**Report**.
.. image:: /Images/Discussion_reportmisuse.png
:width: 500
:alt: A post and a response with the "Report" link circled
.. Future: DOC-121 As a course author, I need a template of discussion guidelines to give to students
\ No newline at end of file
Markdown is supported
0% or
You are about to add 0 people to the discussion. Proceed with caution.
Finish editing this message first!
Please register or to comment