---
title: "Participating in Discussions for Students"
slug: "participation"
tags: ["NFR"]
updated: 2024-09-27T15:47:44Z
published: 2024-09-27T15:47:44Z
canonical: "docs.skillable.com/participation"
---

> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.skillable.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Participating in Discussions for Students

All Users are permitted to participate in Discussions by default. When a discussion is associated with a Course, the discussion becomes available through the following pages depending on the user's access.

## Discussion Components

A discussion has 4 main components users will interact with:

1. **Topic** – listed on the left side of the main Discussion page and used to organize/display posts.
2. **Post** – top level discussion item that can be added to a Topic. These are listed in date/time order on the left side of the Topics page and show the number of responses. A post consists of:
  1. **Post Type**: a question or a discussion. The appropriate icon will be placed on it.
  2. **Topic**: the Topic to which the post is associated.
  3. **Title**: a headline to draw attention to the post.
  4. **Your question or idea**: the main content of the post. This is an HTML field.
3. **Response** – second level discussion item. Users can respond to any Post. The responses are indented below the full Post in date/time order when the user selects the Post.
4. **Comment **– bottom level discussion item. Users can comment on any response. The comments are indented below their respective responses in date/time order.

To navigate in the discussion (you can add a post at any point either using the form or the Add Post link);

- Select a **Topic** to view/add posts:

![view and add posts page](https://cdn.document360.io/a298db04-a0fe-47e0-bfe3-c52d6f9d7c8c/Images/Documentation/disc-main-page.png)

- Select a **Post** to read and respond to, if wanted (notice the breadcrumb above the post titles):

![posts page](https://cdn.document360.io/a298db04-a0fe-47e0-bfe3-c52d6f9d7c8c/Images/Documentation/disc-topic-page.png)

- Add a new **Post**, **Response** or **comment**, if wanted. (Each activity has an HTML field for its content; only posts have a title.)
- Like/unlike the Post, a Response, or a Comment.

![post respons or comment page](https://cdn.document360.io/a298db04-a0fe-47e0-bfe3-c52d6f9d7c8c/Images/Documentation/disc-conversation.png)

All posts, responses, and comments will have the date and time of the post (0 GMT), the name of the poster, and their image if available from their User Profile. When a “Staff” member posts, replies, or comments, they will be marked with a special badge. “Staff” is a user who: 1) has administrative privileges for discussion, 2) belongs to the Organization tree that owns the discussion, and 3) has management over the organization that owns the discussion.

![discussion staff post](https://cdn.document360.io/a298db04-a0fe-47e0-bfe3-c52d6f9d7c8c/Images/Documentation/disc-staff-emblem.png)

## Where to Find Discussions

For the first 4, it will be a link in the menu bar.

- Course
- Class
- Class Enrollment
- Course Assignment
- Simple Course Assignment

![discussion button course profile page](https://cdn.document360.io/a298db04-a0fe-47e0-bfe3-c52d6f9d7c8c/Images/Documentation/disc-course-access.png)

For the Simple Course Assignment, the discussion will have its own tab where it will be displayed.

![simple course assignment discussion tab](https://cdn.document360.io/a298db04-a0fe-47e0-bfe3-c52d6f9d7c8c/Images/Documentation/disc-simple-ca.png)

People who interact with the platform. Typically, we can break down users into three categories: Operations Managers, Instructors and Basic Users..

Discussions are chat boards for users who have taken a course through a class or self paced to interact about the material.

Bundles together content to then be set up for training through classes, subscriptions, and course assignments. Courses can include labs, videos, SCORM, LTI, external links, assessments, and documents. Courses must be assigned to a Content Provider and a Publishing Group to be available to set up for training.

The user profile contains information about the user and their preferences, including roles, managed organizations, and settings.

An organization is assigned to each entity in the TMS, such as, users, classes, subscriptions, and courses. The organization is a basis to determine access given based on roles within the organization and management over the organization.

A class is a scheduled instructor-led event with a start and end time/date. Typically, these include lectures and hands on activities such as labs.

An enrollment is the student registration for a class. Enrollments have multiple statuses, but only the Enrollment Status of Enrolled gives a student access to class. Within the enrollment the student will access the labs and activities and if set up digital courseware and virtual classroom for their class.

A course assignment delivers self-paced access to a course. A course is assigned to a student giving immediate access to the student. It can be accessed at any time for the duration of the assignment. The assignment duration begins and is billed when it is created.