> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.deandesk.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Discussions > Run your course discussion board: start prompts, reply to students, moderate threads, and grade participation. > [!NOTE] > > **School-level feature** — managed within your school portal at `yourschool.deandesk.com`.## Video walkthrough \ \[Download the video](/videos/tutorials/teaching-discussions.mp4) · Download English captions > [!NOTE] > > This walkthrough uses the real DeanDesk interface with the fictional Northstar Academy demo school and a calm, AI-generated English voice. Payments and outside services are not connected in the demo.The **Discussions** tab is your course forum. You post a prompt, students respond and reply to each other, and the conversation stays organized in threads. You can make any discussion **graded**, which adds it to the gradebook as an assignment.Open your course and choose **Discussions** in the course menu.> [!NOTE] > > **Discussions** and **Chat** are different tabs. Discussions are threaded prompts that can be graded. [Chat](/teaching/chat.md) is a real-time group conversation for the whole class.## The discussion boardThe board lists every discussion in the course, with pinned discussions first and the rest ordered by latest activity. Each row shows:- The title, plus a pin icon, a lock icon, or a **Graded · N pts** badge where they apply. - Who started it and when it was last active, and the due date for graded discussions. - The first line of the prompt and the number of replies.Click a row to open the thread.**Teachers**You can always start discussions, and you can grade, pin, lock, edit, or delete any discussion in your course. You can delete any reply, and edit your own.**Students**Students can respond to any discussion and reply to classmates. They can start their own discussions only if the course allows it (see [Who can start discussions](#who-can-start-discussions)). Students can edit or delete only their own posts, and they never see grading controls.## Start a discussion**1. Open the composer**Click **New discussion**.**2. Write the prompt**Enter a **Title** and the question or topic in **Prompt**. Use **Attachments** to add files, such as a reading or an image.**3. Make it graded (optional)**Turn on **Graded discussion**, then set:- **Points** — the score the discussion is worth (100 by default). - **Due date** and **Due time** — optional, but set both or neither. The dialog shows which timezone is used. - **Posts required** — how many responses each student must post to the prompt. - **Replies to classmates** — how many replies each student must leave on other students' responses.**4. Post it**Click **Post discussion**. The new thread opens right away.A graded discussion gets its own column in the course gradebook. Posting a discussion does not send notifications, so let students know with an [announcement](/teaching/announcements.md) if it's due soon.## Read and replyOpen a discussion to see the prompt and every response. For a graded discussion, a banner shows the points, due date, and what students must do, for example **To complete: 1 post and 1 reply to classmates**.- To respond to the prompt, type in **Write a response...** and click **Reply**. - To answer one student, click **Reply** under their response, type your note, and click **Reply** in the reply box. - To change your own reply, click **Edit** under it. As course staff you can also **Delete** any reply.When someone replies, the discussion's author and the author of the response being answered get an in-app notification. The whole class is not notified.Click **All discussions** to return to the board.## Moderate a discussionOpen the **Discussion actions** menu (the three dots at the top right of a thread):| Action | What it does | | - | - | | **Edit** | Change the title, prompt, attachments, or grading settings. | | **Pin** / **Unpin** | Keep the discussion at the top of the board. | | **Lock** / **Unlock** | Stop new replies from students. The thread stays readable, and course staff can still reply. | | **Delete** | Permanently delete the discussion and all of its replies, after you confirm. |> [!WARNING] > > Turning off **Graded discussion** on an existing discussion removes its gradebook assignment. Deleting a graded discussion removes the assignment too.## Grade participation**1. Open the grading panel**In a graded discussion, click **Grade responses** in the banner. The panel lists every active student in the course.**2. Check participation**Each student shows how many posts and replies to classmates they've made, with a check mark once they meet the requirements. A response to the prompt counts as a post. A reply to another student's response counts as a reply to a classmate; replying to your own response doesn't.**3. Enter a score**Type the score in the student's box, add optional **Feedback (optional)**, and click **Save** for that student.Scores go straight to the [gradebook](/lms/gradebook.md). The participation counts are there to guide you; you always choose the score.## Who can start discussionsBy default, everyone in the course can start a discussion. To limit new discussions to staff:**1. Open the course settings**Click **Edit Course** at the top of the course.**2. Change the setting**Under **Discussions**, set **Who can create discussions** to **Teachers and TAs only**, then save the course.Students can always reply to existing discussions, whichever option you choose. To hide the tab entirely, turn off **Discussions** under **Course sidebar** on the same page.## Related- [Chat & discussions overview](/communication/discussions.md) - [Gradebook](/lms/gradebook.md) - [Chat](/teaching/chat.md) This documentation is built and hosted on [Mintlify](https://mintlify.com), a developer documentation platform.