There are four different forum types:

1. The standard forum is probably most useful for large discussions that you intend to monitor/guide or for social forums that are student led. This may be suitable for a forum based around an assessment task or general questions about the unit. Students are able to start their own discussion thread and/or reply to other threads.
2. The single simple discussion forum is for a single topic, all on one page. This is suitable for a short, focused discussion. Students are able to reply to the posted topic or another student’s response, but they are unable to start a new topic of discussion.
3. The Q and A forums are best used when you have a particular question that you wish to have answered and you want to ensure that all students contribute. Students must submit a post before they are able to view other students' posts.
4. An each person forum is most useful when you want to achieve a happy medium between a long discussion and a short and focused discussion. Each student is able to post one forum topic, but can reply as many times as they like to other posts. A single discussion topic per person allows students a little more freedom than a single discussion forum, but not as much as a standard forum where each student can create as many topics as he or she wishes.

Other resources:

• Quick Guide
• Register for a Training workshop