Example of Moodle Discussion forum

This example shows the instructor question as it appears within a sample Moodle course. Some of the key features shown here:

• The initial instructor question appears with student responses listed below in threaded outline. Each response can be viewed by clicking on that post (see example #2 screen shot below).
• Moodle indents each level of reply so that all levels within a discussion can easily be seen
• Instructors can insert a photo or avatar (symbolic picture) of themselves. In this example, the instructor photos is not shown -- instead the image appears as a smiley face.

This example shows an individual message as it appears within a sample Moodle course. The key feature shown here:

• The original instructor question (parent) is not displayed along with the individual reply and the outline of subsequent posts. The parent question can be viewed by clicking on the "show parent" link, but then the student message is no longer shown (in contrast to WebCrossing, where the instructor question (parent) and the student responses can all be seen on one screen.

This example shows how the messages are displayed in nested form (still maintaining the original thread) within the Moodle forum. Some of the key features shown here:

• Participants can insert a photo or avatar (symbolic picture) of themselves. This picture appears next to all their posts, each time they post. In this example, photos of participants are not shown -- all appear as a smiley face.
• Each post is shown so that all can be read together. Unlike WebCT and Blackboard, where the threaded outline is lost when more than one post is shown in the same screen, in Moodle the threaded outline is maintained by indenting replies under the message to which the post is replying.