Discussion boards in Rise

Jan 23, 2017

Hi there 

I was wondering is there a way to have a group discussion board in rise where students can comment and post?

Thanks!

Suzie

 

36 Replies
Alyssa Gomez

Hi Suzie! Although there isn't a native discussion board tool in Rise, you can easily set one up using a link to another site. I used a free tool called Padlet in this sample Rise course. Once you've created the Padlet discussion board, copy the link address. Then in Rise, click Add Content then click URL/Embed. Paste the Padlet link there, and your discussion board is ready to go. I also invite other members of the community to chime in and share the discussion board tools they recommend!

If you'd like to see a discussion board tool within Rise, we'd love to hear more of your ideas! Would you mind taking a moment to share how you would use a discussion board tool with our product development team here? Thanks for being a part of the community!

suzie wells

Hi Alyssa

Thank you for your reply. I'd love to share what I am doing with you. I work for a Educational Design team that create websites and learning environments for NGOs, education institutions, community websites etc. I have been involved lately with a number of projects with a large university. They use Moodle for their LMS. We are trying to get them to make more inspiring, user friendly, intuitive courses. I started trialing Rise to see if could do what we need it for. I love how easy it is! That is such a great plus for teachers.

An everyday course tool which is a must for us, is a discussion board. The Moodle one is very chunky (sorry Moodle lovers) and I would love to see a discussion board in a course that really facilitates good discussion, which is also easy to refer to and read. I have seen good ones in "Future Learn" course, though with so many people in a course, discussions are very hard to keep track of! What is good about the "Future Learn" example is the discussion takes place in the exact part of the course where you need it.

If Rise had a block you could add for discussion, I think I would love it.

All the best,

Suzie

Alyssa Gomez

I'm glad you're finding Rise so easy to use!  And thanks so much for telling us more about how you would use a Discussions feature in Rise. At this point we don't have it on our roadmap for future updates, but I appreciate you sharing your thoughts, as this gives us a better idea of how in demand the feature is!

And I apologize for the password protection. I have removed the password, so now you should be able to take a look at the sample I put together. :)

Alyssa Gomez

Hey there Suzie!

It sounds like you'd like to see a discussion feature in Rise that updates in real-time like the commenting feature in Articulate Review, is that correct? That's a really cool idea, and I can certainly pass it along!

Also, we've got an Attachments Block feature scheduled to roll out later this quarter, so stay tuned! You'll have the ability to attach Word documents and PDFs very soon. :)

Crystal Horn

Hi there, Scott, and everyone else too!  We did release the Attachments Block, and here's a great tutorial from Adam on how to use it.

I'm sorry that we overlooked this discussion.  Keeping up with all the rapid feature releases with Rise is a good thing!  We've got a complete list of Rise releases here, too.

Jean Marrapodi

Good morning! Hoping this gets seen since this is an older thread. With the discussion boards, is there a feature to create sections? I'm looking to build a corporate course for a company of 50,000 and trying to think through the logistics of a discussion board. With a MOOC, it's no big deal because of the lower level of participation. With a college, you create a copy of the course to create a new section, so each class has their own space. Does it work the same way?

Jean Marrapodi

Thanks Ashley. I see that it's using Padlet linked from Rise. I'm guessing then, that it would need to be a new link for each "section" if I want to break the 50,000 people down to keep the discussion manageable. I'm wondering if RISE is the right tool for this kind of thing.

I appreciate the quick reply.

Crystal Horn

Hi Bhaveet! 

You can embed the Padlet as an iframe in your Rise course, and your learners will see real-time discussion from other learners taking the same course.

Check out my Rise course on how to embed your Padlet.  Alyssa helped me work up the proper iframe code formatting.  My course includes a real time example of how that looks in the end!  You can post a comment on my Rise course through the embedded Padlet if you'd like -- comments show in real time.

Ashley Terwilliger-Pollard

 Hi Jay,

It's not a feature I've seen a lot of other requests for since most of the folks here in ELH seem able to use another tool such as Padlet. Have you looked at other options that you could embed into Rise, and track on those sites? 

Our team is always curious to hear new ideas and how they'd help your course design, could you share a bit more with us here or through a feature request

JR Dingwall

Hi Alyssa, 

Our team has varied results with Padlet displaying properly, but your example works quite well. Specific the pink "+" button we find disappears if we resize the window to be too small. What are the settings you've used in RISE in your sample, and did you make any adjustments to the settings in Padlet so that the "+" button is always on screen?

A second question is about the embed block size. I see the Padlet quickly requires users to scroll within the block. Is there a way to adjust the height of the embed block in RISE, or to make it responsive height wise?

Thanks

Alyssa Gomez

Hello JR!

I didn't do anything special when I embedded that Padlet into Rise 360. I simply used the formula <iframe src="URL"></iframe>, and replaced URL with the link for the Padlet.

You can adjust the size of the iFrame window by hovering over the block and clicking Edit. Under the Settings tab, click the dropdown under Embed Width.

If you're still having trouble, would you mind sharing the link to your Padlet with me?

Cassandra Black

Alyssa you seem to be an expert here.  This is my first day in the community and I'm seeking the latest recommendations on how to provide a course with an interactive discussion feature embedded into a Rise content course.  Can you tell me what your latest and greatest or best implementation method is for this desired functionality?           

Additionally while I am seeking input, can you also share the best proven method for surveying students in Rise? 

Thank you!

Lea Agato

Hi Cassandra, welcome to the community!

For both discussion boards and surveys, you can use any third-party tool that allows content to be displayed in an iframe, and then use a Multimedia Embed block to add these in your course. Here’s how:

  1. Click on All blocks > Multimedia > Embed
  2. Click on Edit
  3. Click on Change, and use the following code to embed your content:
 <iframe src="URL"></iframe>.

Just replace URL with the link for your discussion board or survey tool.

We’ve seen users try Padlet for discussion boards, and Google forms or JotForm online forms for surveys. I also invite other members of the community to share their recommended tools!

Let me know if you have any questions!

Sean de Waal

I'm amazed this feature hasn't had any traction. The value of social learning has been proven and, in remote learning, chat forums/discussion boards are the most accessible way of enabling this. It seems lazy to simply advise using external tools, which are not integrated and can't form part of course assessments.

PLEASE encourage development of chat functions in Rise 360!