BigSky uses specific terms to refer to different parts of the Discussions area, including the following:
► Forums are used to house discussion topics that are similar. For example, there might be several discussions in the first week of the course, so create a forum titled “Week One Discussions” for them.
► Topics are where the discussion actually takes place. This is where students can post threads in response to a discussion prompt.
► Threads are the initial comments added to a discussion topic.
► Replies are responses posted to a specific discussion thread.
Setting up a discussion is a two-step process: first create a forum that can hold one or more discussion topics, then create discussion topics within that forum.