Canvas Discussions

Canvas Discussions allow you to share thoughts and ideas about class materials with your teacher and other students in your class. 

You can use discussion boards to:

  • Post questions about homework assignments, readings, and course content.
  • Demonstrate your understanding or application of course material.
  • Meet with other students for collaboration and social interaction.

 

  • Go to the course site in Canvas.
  • On the course menu, select Discussions.
  • The main Discussion page appears with a list of available discussions. On this page, you can perform these actions:
    • Select a title to view the messages. 
    • Click "Reply" to write your own message.

Notice that course groups can have their own discussions, which are available only to members of the group. If you are a member of a group discussion board,  you can find it in by clicking on People and then the groups tab.

 

  • Click on a Discussion to open it 
  • Click "Reply" at the bottom of the post to create your own thread (also known as a "post"). 
  • Type the text of your thread. Use the Rich Text Editor to add images, formatting, or attach a file to your post.
  • Press Reply to post.

Note: you can post anonymously only if your instructor has allowed it. Other students and your instructor won't know who posted if it's anonymous. 

If your instructor enables this option, you will be able to edit or delete your replies. 

  • Open a thread in a Discussion.
  • On the thread's page, Click on the three dots to the right to view the available functions.
  • Select Edit or Delete (the Delete action is irreversible). Note:If you're allowed to delete your post with replies, the post will be permanently deleted.
  • When you edit, the page expands so that you can make edits in the editor while you view the original post.
  • Click Save. Your edits appear in the post.

If your instructor allows it, you can rate posts. Rating posts helps users focus on messages the others consider especially informative or useful.

  • Open a Discussion.
  • The bottom of the thread will contain a "Like" option - simply click on it to "Like" the thread.  The "Thumbs up" will be filled after you "like" the post.
an image that reads "Reply, Like, Mark as Unread"