File Discussion

Last modified by Carina Enke on 16.01.2024

KB_Dateidiskussion.pngThe course element File discussion  is similar to a course element Forum . However, the basis for dialogue here are files that can be uploaded by the tutor or students. Each file comes with its own forum.

 

Content

Usage: Learners' View

Overview

The course element File discussion includes an overview of all existing files. Additional files can be uploaded, and existing files can be edited and deleted. Each file is assigned a discussion forum. To start a forum, click on Discussion .

The course supervisor can assign various rights for this course element type. The displayed functions and areas depend on these settings.

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Functions for users

Subscribe to file discussion

You can subscribe to course elements to get automatically informed about changes.

How to do that?

To subscribe to a course element, proceed as follows:

  1. Open the relevant course and go to the desired course element.
  2. Click the Subscribe button in the upper right corner of the course element view.

Example: Subscribing to a course element File discussion

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3. If you have already subscribed to this course element, you will see the button Unsubscribe. Click this button if you want to cancel the subscription.

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For further information about the general configuration options for receiving notifications, refer to the page Subscriptions and notifications.

In the course element File discussion , you can use functions for a single file as well as collection functions for multiple table entries.

The tutor can assign various rights for the file discussion. The displayed functions and areas depend on these settings.

General table functions

The following collection functions are available in the table head ...

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Upload

You have the option of uploading files to the course element for discussion. 

How to do that?

To upload a file, proceed as follows:  

  1. Open the course element File discussion .
  2. Click on Upload file .

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3. Select a file from your hard disk and click on Upload .

4. The file is now displayed in the summary table of the course element.

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Download

You can download a single file by clicking on the file name. With the function Download file in the table head, you can download one or more selected files as a ZIP archive.

How to do that?

To download a ZIP archive of the selected files, proceed as follows:  

  1. Open the course element File discussion .
  2. Select the checkbox in front of the file(s) you want to download.

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3. Click on Download .

4. The file(s) will now be downloaded as a ZIP archive.

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Delete

You can delete a single file by clicking on the trash can icon in the table. To delete multiple files, use the trash can icon in the table head.

How to do that?

Proceed as follows:

  1. Open the course element File discussion .
  2. Select the checkbox in front of the files you want to delete.

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3. Click on the trash can icon in the table head.

4. Confirm the deletion process with Delete .

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Deleting a file also removes the associated discussion posts. The data is automatically archived in your Personal folder.

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Download table

You can download and save the content of the table.

The following functions are available for a single table entry ...

 

Download file

You can download a single file by clicking on the file name.

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Discussion

For each file, a discussion forum is created. These forums allow the users to exchange information about the files. A detailed description can be found in the following section.

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Edit

By clicking on this button, you will directly switch to the editing mode of the selected file. You can edit the metadata of each file and the file content depending on the file format.

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Delete

You can delete a single file by clicking on the trash can icon in the table.

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Artefact

By clicking on this symbol, you can also save your file as an artefact to your eportfolio or assign it to a collaborative folder.

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Start file discussion

For each file, a discussion forum is created. Discussion forums include all functions of a forum and allow the users to exchange information about the files.

Start a discussion about a file …

To open a discussion forum, proceed as follows:

  1. Open the course element File discussion .
  2. Select the desired file and click on the button Discussion .

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3. An overview of all existing topics appears below the table. If there is no topic yet, the button New topic will appear.

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Within the open discussion forum, you can use all common forum functions.

Functions in the forum ...

Options in the topics overview

In the overview table, the following functions are available:

 

Open topic

Clicking on the title of a topic in the topics overview opens the relevant topic.

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Create new topic

This function allows you to create your own topic. Other users can then respond to your topic and/or submit a rating.

How to do that?
  1. Open the relevant course element.
  2. Click on New topic.

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3. Enter a title and your post in the appropriate text fields. More formatting options can be found on Page Texteditor.

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4. Now you can mark your topic as important by selecting the checkbox. A topic which is marked as important is always listed at the top of the post overview.

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5. If anonymous posting has been enabled by the course author, this option is also available to you. To publish your topic anonymously, activate the respective checkbox.

Depending on the setting of the course author, the anonymous post may need to be released by the moderator. Only after the release, it will be visible to other users.

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6. If necessary, add a file as an attachment to the post.

7. Click on Submit.

8. Your topic will be created and is now available in the forum overview.

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Download table

Export table content as a file. The file format you have selected within your System settings will be used as the default format.

Open topic options

Depending on the user's rights, the following functions are available for an open topic and the posts it contains:

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Back to overview

Clicking this button will directly take you to the post overview. The post overview lists all existing topics.

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Last post

Clicking this button takes you to the last post created on the respective topic.

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View

Here you can filter the displayed posts. You can choose between four different post views. For example, you can view all posts or just the most recent ones.

The following settings are available ...
  • All posts
  • All posts (flat)
  • Favourites
  • New posts

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Reply (directly)

With this option, it is possible to reply directly to a post. You should use this function if you want to reply to a post other than the last one in the thread. The reply is displayed directly below the entry concerned.  

Learn more ...
  1. Click on the arrow next to the post you want to reply to.
  2. A reply window opens. Enter your reply, add a file if necessary, and click on Save .
  3. Your reply will now be displayed directly below the post.

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Star

Click on the star to mark a post as a favourite. You can undo this process at any time by clicking on the star again.

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Mark as best post

Using this option, you can mark the best post on a topic.

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Artefact

With this button, you can save your posts to the ePortfolio.

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Advanced functions

  • Quote
  • Edit
  • Delete

This option allows you to quote, edit, or delete posts.

Quote post ...

The Quote function allows the user to refer directly to a specific statement from another user. In this way, the overview in the discussion is for example maintained.  

  1. Click on the expand icon and select Quote .

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2. It opens the reply field with the quoted text in the upper area. Enter your reply below the quote and click on Save .

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Edit post ...

To edit your reply, proceed as follows:  

  1. Click on the expand icon and select Edit .

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2. You are now in the editing mode. Make your desired changes and click on Save to complete the editing process.

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Delete post ...

To delete a reply, proceed as follows:  

  1. Click on the expand icon and select Delete .

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2. Confirm the deletion process with Delete .

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Reply

Use this button to reply to the last post. The given answer is displayed at the end of the thread. 

Learn more ...
  1. Click on Reply .
  2. A reply window opens. Enter your reply in the appropriate text field. Upload a file if necessary.

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3. If anonymous posting has been enabled by the course author, you have the option of marking your post as anonymous. To do so, activate the checkbox Post anonymously .

4. Click on Save .

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Rate

 

Moderate topic

Users with the right to moderate have, among other things, the option to release posts, close topics, and delete other users' posts.  

Functions for moderators ...

If you have the right to moderate in the forum, the following functions will be available to you: 

Hide topic

A hidden topic will no longer be visible to users without moderating rights.

How to do that?
  1. Open the course element Forum and the topic you want to hide.
  2. Click on the down arrow next to the Subscribe button and select Hide topic.

Follow the same procedure to make the topic visible again. 

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Close topic

If a topic has been closed, it is no longer possible to respond to it.

How to do that?
  1. Open the course element Forum and the topic you want to close.
  2. Click on the down arrow next to the Subscribe button and select Close topic.

Follow the same procedure to reopen the topic.

 Kursrun - Forum Thema beenden_en.png

 

Configuration: Authors' View

In the course editor

The following functions are available in the course editor:

Add a course element file discussion

Click to open instructions on how to add a course element ...

To integrate a course element into your course, proceed as follows:

1

Open the course you want to edit.

Use the pencil icon at the top of the page to open the editing mode.

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2

Select a course element from the menu on the right.

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3

In the new window, you can define the position of the new course element within your course structure (left navigation pane). The available positions are marked with an insert icon.

To insert the new course element into an existing substructure, you need to open the substructure by clicking on the small triangle symbol next to its title. The area will open and you will again see insert icons at the positions which are available.

Click on the insert icon at the desired position within the structure. The selected area will be highlighted.

Confirm your choice with Insert course element.

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4

The element will be inserted into the course structure at the selected position.

Depending on the course element, you have to make additional configurations or add content in order to complete the configuration.

For these changes to take effect, you must publish the course. The course element will then also become available in the course view.

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General configuration settings

In the course editor, you will find the following configuration tabs:

Title and description

Configuration options in the tab title and description ...

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Elements

Description

Title

You need to enter a title for the course element. The title can comprise a maximum of 100 characters. All special characters and numbers are permitted. The title will appear in the navigation menu of the course and also as a heading in the content area.

Changes to the title of the first course element, the so-called main course node ...

  If you change the title of the first course element, the new content will only be applied to the main course node and then displayed in the opened course. If you wish to edit the course title or description, you can do so using the more settings menu of the course.

Subtitle

You can enter a subtitle for the course element with a maximum of 255 characters. All special characters and numbers are permitted. The title will appear as a tooltip in the navigation menu and - if selected and configured accordingly - as a subtitle in the content area.

Description

Here you can describe the course element. The description will appear in the content area below the title.

Depending on the settings configured in the element Display, this additional text is displayed to the user when opening the course element. The user can expand or collapse the view of the text.

 

Display

Define which information about the course element should be displayed in the course view. In addition to the content, you can optionally display the title and description. All course elements are provided with a reasonable presetting, which mostly includes the setting Title, description and content. You can adjust this setting in accordance with the options available for each course element.

Set link for this course element

Each course element can be accessed via fixed link addresses. Therefore, an internal and an external URL is assigned to each course element. These direct links to concrete elements can be used within courses or provided to learners. The URLs are located below the title and description of the element and will appear upon selecting Set link for this course element.  

  • External link: To refer to this course element from outside of the course or learning platform, you can use the external link and insert it, for example as a href attribute, into the desired HTML page.
  • Internal link: To set a link to another course element within the same course, you can insert the internal link as a href attribute into the desired HTML page.

ID

You will need the ID number of the course element (on the bottom right), for example, if you wish to use the expert mode in the visibility or access tab.

Visibility

Configuration options in the tab visibility and access ...

Sichtbarkeit und Zugriff

Access

Forum/storage configuration

In this tab, you can upload files and decide on the display of the forum. Detailed instructions are given in the following section Special configuration settings .

Multilingualism

In this tab, different translations can be added to individual course element areas.

Special configuration settings

In the tab Forum/storage configuration , an overview of all existing files within the course element File discussion is provided. In addition, you can customise the display of the forum.

You have the following configuration options:

File discussion

Upload files for discussion.

How to do that?

To upload a file, proceed as follows:  

  1. Open the tab Forum /storage configuration .
  2. Click on Upload file .

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3. Select a file from your hard disk and upload it using Upload .

4. The file is now listed in the file overview.

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Forum

In the section Forum , you can decide how a discussion forum will be displayed to the course participants.If you activate the option Open forum in pop-up , the discussion forum related to a file will be opened in a new browser window.

How to activate this setting? ...
  1. Open the tab Forum /storage configuration .

  2. Select the checkbox next to the entry Open f orum in pop-up if the discussion about a file is supposed to be opened in a new browser window.

    If this checkbox is not selected, the discussion will be displayed in the same browser window below the file overview.

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In the course view

In the course view of a course element File discussion , you have access to all the functions available to users.

Moderate discussion forum

 

If you have the right to moderate in the forum, the following functions will be available to you: 

Hide topic

A hidden topic will no longer be visible to users without moderating rights.

How to do that?
  1. Open the course element Forum and the topic you want to hide.
  2. Click on the down arrow next to the Subscribe button and select Hide topic.

Follow the same procedure to make the topic visible again. 

Kursrun - Forum Thema verstecken_en.png 

 

Close topic

If a topic has been closed, it is no longer possible to respond to it.

How to do that?
  1. Open the course element Forum and the topic you want to close.
  2. Click on the down arrow next to the Subscribe button and select Close topic.

Follow the same procedure to reopen the topic.

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Via the course element's access rights, you can also enable other users to moderate in a discussion forum.