Ed Discussion Advanced Features

In this article, you will find information on how to use some of the advanced features of Ed Discussion. You can also visit Ed Help to learn how to get the most out of Ed Discussion.

Admin Console  

The Admin Console is where you manage the general settings of your Ed Discussion course settings. To access the Admin Console: 

1. Select the Admin icon in the menu bar on the top right.
   
2. Once inside the Admin Console, select the Left Navigation Menu to switch between the General, Discussion, and Advanced sections to edit the different settings.
   

General

The General section includes the following options: 

• Course Details. By default, the course code and name are the same as on your Canvas course website. Tip: Keep the names the same.
• Join Link. Disregard this section. Use the Sync with LMS button at the bottom of the page instead.
• Additional Features. You can enable and disable additional features here, such as Chat and Lessons.
  
• Users. Use this feature to automatically add students to your Ed Discussion course. Select the Sync with LMS button at the bottom to import the student roster from your course in the LMS. When new students register for the course, select Refresh to update the list. Note that Refresh does not remove students who are no longer enrolled in a course. You have to manually remove them from your Ed Discussion course. To unenroll users or resend enrollment invitations, select the users by selecting the checkbox to the left of their names and select the Unenroll or Resend Invitations button.
  

Discussion 

The Discussion section allows instructors to adjust discussion-related settings, including: 

• Categories. This feature is designed for configuring the list of categories and subcategories that you can use to label discussion posts. The pre-existing list of categories includes General, Lectures, Sections, Problem Sets, Assignments (consisting of subcategories A1 and A2), and Social. To add additional categories, enter them in the text editor (one per line) and use the TAB key to indent and specify subcategories. The default category is the first category (i.e., General) in the list. However, you can require the user to explicitly select a category before editing the thread content by selecting the checkbox next to the Category unselected by default option. This is recommended if you are using thread templates.
  
• Discussion Features. Under this section, you can manage various discussion-specific features (e.g., anonymous threads, private threads, etc.). Select the checkbox to enable or disable these features.
  
• Thread Templates. Thread templates provide a structure or template for users to complete. Check the box to the left of Enabled to turn on this feature. To create a thread template, choose a category from the list, then type the initial content into the rich text editor. You can format the content and add multimedia using the rich content editor. Note: These thread templates are only applicable to the Question type of threads.
  
• Save Replies. You can use this feature to store frequently used replies for speedy and consistent communications with students. Check the box to the left of Enabled to turn on this feature, then select the plus (+) button to build a reply template. Enter the name of the reply in the title column and its content in the rich content editor. To insert a saved reply when you are writing a new post, select the Insert Saved Reply (which looks like a back arrow) button in the rich content editor toolbar and then choose from the list of saved replies in the pop-up window.
  
• Moderation - If you need to regulate student-initiated threads, select the checkbox to turn on the New threads require approval setting to hide new threads by students from other students until it is approved by staff. When a student posts a new thread, you will be prompted to approve or decline it. Select Comment to provide feedback on a student post pending approval. To expedite the process, it is recommended that you add a decline thread template in the rich content editor below. The decline thread template will be automatically applied when you select the Decline button.
  
• Code. This feature allows you to manage settings for the coding languages supported by Ed Discussion.
  • Under Snippet Languages, you can choose which coding languages are available inside the Snippets feature in Ed Discussion’s text editor. Separate each entry by a comma. Leave the field blank to include all supported languages. 
  • Under Default Snippet Language, choose which language will be selected by default for snippets in the Rich Text Editor.
  • Under Highlightable Languages, select or deselect languages for automatic syntax highlighting. 

Advanced

The Advanced section hosts additional customization options including: 

• Archive Course. Once a course is concluded, you can select the Archive Course button to make the discussion read-only and move it from the Courses section to the Archived section in the Ed Discussion dashboard. Staff and students can still access the course from the Ed Discussion dashboard and via Canvas. You can unarchive it to move it back to the Courses section in the Ed Discussion dashboard.
  
• Course Access. You can restrict access to only students whose browsers match a specific user agent regex.
• Role Labels. With this feature, you can customize how course roles are displayed by typing the new labels in the text editor to the right of each course role. By default, Staff is renamed TA, and the Admin is labeled as Instructor. Leave the text editors blank if you wish to use the default setting.
  
• Miscellaneous. Access miscellaneous settings here including Snippet Language Overrides, Environmental Variables, and more. You can also choose whether or not to display profile pictures uploaded to Ed Discussion by selecting the checkbox for Show User Profile Pictures.
  
  

Analytics 

Ed Discussion provides a dashboard on participation data. To view the dashboard: 

1. Select the Analytics icon in the top menu bar in Ed Discussion.
   
2. The Discussion Analytics page shows graphical visualizations of participant data, including number of unique visitors, views, threads, answers, and comments. 
   
3. Use the time filters (Fortnight, Month, All Time) to change the time range if desired. All Time is selected by default.
   
4. Scroll down for data tables showing top contributors, including top askers, top answerers, top commenters, top viewers, top hearted, and top endorsed.
   

 

Useful Resources

Below are links to documentation by Ed Discussion. You must be logged in to Ed Discussion to view them.  

• Ed Help: Get the most out of Ed
• Ed Help: Getting Started (Instructor)
• Ed Help: Tips and Tricks (Instructor)
• Ed Help: Using Ed Discussion