Creating private groups with restricted discussion areas can provide students an outlet for writing reflective journals.
To Create a Private Group:
- Click on Collaboration on the navbar and choose Groups.
- Click on the New Category button.
- Give the category a name and add an optional description.
- Click the drop-down menu under Enrollment Type, and select Single user, member-specific groups.
- In the Additional Options area, click the box to Set up discussion areas.
- Click the forum drop-down menu to select an existing forum to associate the restricted discussion to, or click [New Forum] to create a new forum.
- Select Create new topic to create a new restricted topic.
- Select Attach to existing topic if a topic has already been created.NOTE: This option is only available for topics that have no posts or group restrictions enabled.
- Click Save.
To Create Restricted Topics
- Select Create one topic with threads separated by group.
- Edit the Title of your topic.
- Add a description with instructions or a prompt for students to follow.
- Click Create and Next.NOTE: Once you click Create and Next, these options cannot be changed.
- Click Done.
To View Discussion Topics and Associate to a Grade Item
- Click on Collaboration > Discussions, and scroll down to the restricted topic.
- Click the arrow beside the topic and select Edit Topic.
- Click the Assessment tab.
- Click the drop-down menu under Grade Item to select an existing grade item to associate the discussion to, or click [New Grade Item] to create a new grade item.
- Input a value in the Score Out Of field.
- To assess each journal entry individually, check the box to Allow assessment of individual posts.
- Click the calculation drop-down menu to select the calculation method.
- Click the calculation drop-down menu to select the calculation method.
- To assess the entire collection of journal entries, leave the Allow assessment of individual posts box unchecked.