Anatomy of Course Discussions
Course discussions offer an opportunity to engage with fellow learners, ask questions answered by peers or the course team, and actively participate in the course community.
This section provides guidance on course discussions to help you contribute effectively.
Anatomy of Course Discussions
This section outlines the organization and key components of course discussions.
For details on how to engage in discussions, refer to Taking Part in Course Discussions.
Basic Elements: Topics, Posts, Responses, and Comments
The following example illustrates the various ways you can participate in a discussion.
Post: "Please introduce yourself."
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A post initiates a conversation, responses reply to a post, and comments expand on specific responses. Before contributing, consider which format best fits your input to keep discussions organized and easy to follow.
Each post belongs to a discussion topic, selected from a list created by the course team. For details on topics, see Discussion Topics.
For more guidance on participating in discussions, refer to Exploring Discussion Posts and Taking Part in Course Discussions.
Discussion Topics
Discussion topics, created by the course team, structure all posts within a course discussion. These topics may be course-wide or content-specific:
- Course-wide topics address general course matters, such as “Frequently Asked Questions” or “Troubleshooting.” These topics appear in the discussion navigation pane without subcategories.
- Content-specific topics relate to particular course materials, such as video lectures, readings, or assignments. In the navigation pane, these topics appear indented under their relevant category.
You can engage with both types of discussion topics on the Discussion page, while content-specific discussions can also be accessed directly within the corresponding course page.
Before posting, browse the existing topics. Selecting the most relevant topic ensures that others with similar interests can easily find and engage with your post.
Types of Discussion Posts
When contributing to a discussion, you can create either a question or a discussion post:
- Question posts seek specific answers from the course team or fellow learners.
- Discussion posts encourage open conversation, allowing participants to share insights and perspectives.
On the Discussion page, posts are visually distinguished:
- A question mark icon indicates a question post.
- A conversation bubble icon marks a discussion post.
If unsure which type of post to create, consider whether you need concrete information (question) or want to start an open-ended conversation (discussion). If a response from the course team is required, make sure to label your post as a question to ensure it receives appropriate attention.
The Discussion Page
The Discussion page is where you can browse and participate in course discussions.
How to Use Discussions
When no topics or posts are selected, a "How to Use SkillsMax Discussions" graphic appears in the main area of the page. This graphic outlines the key actions you can take within course discussions.
Additionally, you can enable the Receive Updates
option within the graphic to subscribe to a daily email digest summarizing new discussion activity.
When you select a topic or post from the Discussion Navigation Pane, the "How to Use SkillsMax Discussions" graphic disappears, and the selected topic or post is displayed.
Discussion Navigation Pane
Located on the left side of the Discussions page, the navigation pane allows you to browse and access discussion topics and posts, including those embedded within course content.
You can:
- View all discussion topics or only the posts you are following.
- Select a specific topic to explore.
- Filter posts by entering keywords or phrases to search within post titles or text.
The breadcrumb path above the navigation pane shows you the topic that you are currently viewing. In the following example, Posts I’m Following is selected.
Anatomy of Course Discussions
Posts that appear in blue type with a blue bar indicate posts that you have not read.
Posts that appear in grey type without a bar indicate posts that you have read.
The post type icon indicates whether a post is a question or a discussion. For more information, see Determining the Post Type: Discussion or Question.
The check mark icon indicates a “correct answer”. The check mark icon indicates that one of the responses to
- The post correctly answers the question asked in the post.
The response or comment count indicator shows the number of responses and comments for a post. The number of new responses or comments that were added after you previously read a post is displayed next to the indicator. For more information, see Keeping Up with New Activity.
A “Pinned” label shows that a post has been pinned by administrators so that it always stays at the top of the topic list regardless of sort order.
A “Following” label marks posts that you are following.
A “Staff” or “Commpagey TA” label marks posts that were added by course staff or commpagey teaching assistants (TAs).
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