Discussion Board / Bulletin Board - it's the same thing  ...
   Many of the instructors use discussion groups in their online courses.  In fact, your first assignment may be to post something to a discussion board about yourself and why you are taking the class.  Don't be shy!  The next section,  'Netiquette' will familiarize you with some do's and don't of online discussion. 
   You may be graded for class participation by your use of the discussion group.  Besides, it's a great way to talk with the other students you may seldom, if ever, meet.   You may be required to post once or twice a week,  so get acquainted with how it works!

• A discussion board is also called a bulletin board or forum.  One person will start a discussion subject, also called a thread, and others will reply to it.   New discussion subjects can be posted at any time.  Online discussions can get quite lively!

• Unlike 'chatting', which takes place in real time, items can be posted to a discussion board at separate times.  The date and time are noted, so you can see when the comment was made creating a record of the discussion. 

 

O.K.  How do you get started? 
Say you are the first student in your class to sign on to the boards. (Good move).

To create a new post, click on the Discussion link in the blue navigational bar at the top of your Course Home page.

Once in the Discussion page, choose the topic you wish to post in from the list.

Click on the blue link with the topic’s name.

Once inside the topic, you will see a list of all posts within the topic.

Click the "Compose" button on the left side of the grey bar under the topic’s name.

 A new window will open up to allow you to type in your comment. 

Click "Submit" once you have entered in a title and your post’s body text.

Don’t like what you've written?

Click on the post you wish to edit, and then click the Edit Message button on the bottom half of the screen under the red bar which says “View Message.”

If you would like to delete it altogether, you can do so with the Delete button.

Open the post as you would to edit, and click Delete in the grey bar under View Message.   

After you submit, you will return to the thread and your new post will appear in the list.

If you want to reply to a post, click on that post. When the post opens on the bottom half of the screen, click Reply under the red bar which says “View Message.”