• What is the Discussion Feed?
• Continuous Discussion 
• What is Continuous Discussion?
• How to Turn On/Off Continuous Discussion
• How to Reassign a Post

What is the Discussion Feed?

The Discussion Feed is the heart of Packback Questions, where students engage by asking big questions and taking charge of their learning journey. When you and your students click into an assignment, you enter the Discussion Feed, which consists of two main views:

1. Assignment Feed: The default view displaying all questions posted to a specific assignment.
2. Explore Tab: A dynamic view with sorting, filtering, and searching tools to help students discover questions from all assignments.

What Will I See on the Assignment Feed Tab?

The Assignment Feed is your go-to place for all things related to the current assignment. Here’s what you’ll find:

• Guide Post: A guiding introduction for the assignment.
• Posting Requirements and Deadlines: Information about what’s required for students to earn credit and the deadlines to meet.
• Pinned Questions: Highlighted questions that are pinned for the current assignment.

Purpose of the Assignment Feed

The primary function of the Assignment Feed is to display questions specifically composed for the current assignment. If you're interested in the latest discussions, this is the perfect place to start. If the current assignment runs out of posts, questions from past assignments will appear, ensuring there's always engaging content available.

Continuous Discussion

Students can respond to any post to earn credit on their current assignment, thanks to the Continuous Discussion feature. This setting is ON by default and helps maintain ongoing student engagement, boosts the effectiveness of instructor tools, and encourages deeper conversations.

Note: If you prefer standalone discussions where students can only respond to posts from the current assignment, you can turn Continuous Discussion OFF. This will limit the Assignment Feed to current posts only, removing past questions.

Explore Panel

At the bottom of the Assignment Feed tab, you'll find the Explore Panel, which offers several options for further browsing. Selecting any of these options takes you to a different view within the Explore tab.

What Will I See on the Explore Tab?

The Explore Tab provides tools for sorting, filtering, and searching the entire library of posts within the community. It helps both instructors and students stay updated on class discussions and discover thought-provoking questions across all assignments.

Features of the Explore Tab

• Access to Entire Library: All posts from the community are available here, allowing students to explore beyond the current assignment.
• Advanced Tools: Sorting, filtering, and searching tools enable efficient navigation and discovery of relevant content.
• Past Conversations: Students can revisit and respond to past posts, fostering continuous engagement and exploration.

Note: If Continuous Discussion is turned OFF, students can still read past posts, but they will appear as “View Only” and cannot be responded to for credit on the current assignment.

What is Continuous Discussion?

Continuous Discussion allows students to respond to any post from the entire term for credit on their current assignment. This feature encourages ongoing participation and deeper engagement. It is enabled by default in all Packback Questions communities.

Why is Continuous Discussion ON by Default?

Continuous Discussion enhances student engagement and improves learning outcomes by fostering continuous interaction. It fulfills a key part of Packback’s core pedagogy: when you give students the freedom to explore course materials through their own curiosities and at their own pace, they are more intrinsically motivated, more engaged, and more likely to apply, analyze, and evaluate their learnings on a deeper level.

Here's how it benefits both students and teachers:

How Does Grading Work with Continuous Discussion?

The freedom provided by Continuous Discussions necessitated that we design a clear and intuitive system to make sure students knew how they would be graded for each post and to which assignment their points would be allocated.

• Single Open Assignment: If there is only one open assignment, any new post can only be posted to that open assignment. When Continuous Discussion is ON, the only time students cannot respond to posts is when there are no open assignments.
• Multiple Open Assignments: If there is more than one open assignment, students will be able to choose which assignment that post will be counted toward. The assignment will always default to the assignment they’re currently visiting, but it is editable.
• Post Reassignment: When they post a new response, a panel will appear at the top of the page. They can click on the edit icon next to the assignment name to activate a pop up that helps them make an informed decision

What happens when you turn Continuous Discussion OFF?

When you turn Continuous Discussion OFF, the way students interact with the Discussion Feed is adjusted to focus exclusively on the current assignment. Here’s what you can expect:

1. Limited Interaction to Current Assignment:

   • Students will only be able to respond to posts that are part of the assignment they are currently viewing. This means the ability to engage with content from past assignments for credit is removed.

2. Restricted Visibility of Questions:

   • The Assignment Feed will display only the question posts from the current assignment. Questions from past assignments will not appear in this view, maintaining a more focused discussion environment.

3. Instructions on the Explore Tab:

   • On the Explore Tab, instructions will clearly inform students about which posts they can and cannot respond to. This helps manage expectations and guides student participation according to the current assignment's requirements.

4. “View-Only” Labels on Past Posts:

   • Posts from previous assignments will still be accessible in the Explore Tab but will be labeled as “View-Only.” This designation indicates that while students can read these posts, they are unable to respond to them for credit.

5. Clear Explanations for “View-Only” Posts:

   • Every “View-Only” post will include an explanation about why it cannot be responded to. This ensures clarity and reduces confusion, helping students understand the boundaries of their engagement within the course.

6. Disabled Post Assignment Options:

   • On the post creation page, the popup that allows students to choose which assignment their post will belong to is disabled when Continuous Discussion is OFF. This means students can only submit posts to the current assignment they are viewing.

7. Instructor Reassignment Limitations:

   • The ability for instructors to reassign posts is also disabled when Continuous Discussion is OFF. If a student needs flexibility with their assignments, we advise processing extensions to accommodate their needs.

By turning Continuous Discussion OFF, you create a more structured and focused learning environment where discussions are contained within the scope of each assignment, and both students and instructors are clear on the parameters of engagement.

How to Turn On/Off Continuous Discussion

Continuous Discussion is ON by default but can be turned OFF for more controlled discussions. Follow these steps to manage this setting:

Turning Continuous Discussion ON or OFF During Assignment Creation

1. Go to the Manage Assignments Page:

   • Navigate to the "Manage Assignments" section within your Packback Questions community.

2. Create a New Discussion Assignment:

   • Click on the option to create a new discussion assignment.

3. Locate the Continuous Discussion Setting:

   • During the assignment setup, find the section labeled "Continuous Discussion."

4. Turn Continuous Discussion ON or OFF:

   • Select "ON" to enable Continuous Discussion or "OFF" to disable it for standalone discussions.

5. Save Your Settings:

   • Click "Save" to apply your settings for the new discussion assignment.

Turning Continuous Discussion ON or OFF for Existing Assignments

1. Visit the Manage Assignments Page:

   • Log in to your Packback Questions community and go to "Manage Assignments."

2. Select the Discussion Feed:

   • Click on "Discussion Feed" at the top of the page to 

3. Adjust the Continuous Discussion Setting:

   • A pop up will appear prompting you to Enable Continuous Discussion. Choose your preference and click Confirm to finalize the update.

Note: While you can turn this on and off at any time, we advise against doing this too often throughout a term because it may lead to some confusion with your students.

How to Reassign Posts

If your question or a student's post is assigned to the wrong assignment, you can easily reassign it. Here’s how:

Reassigning a Post as an Instructor

1. Locate the Post to Be Reassigned:

   • Go to the discussion feed where the post is located.

2. Click on the Options Menu:

   • Find the post you want to reassign and click on the “Options” button (usually represented by a gear icon).

3. Select "Reassign":

   • From the dropdown menu, select the "Reassign" option.

4. Choose the Correct Assignment:

   • A pop-up will appear. Select the correct assignment to which you want the post reassigned.

5. Confirm the Reassignment:

   • Click "Confirm" to save the changes and move the post to the new assignment.

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Please Note: Posts can only be reassigned to open assignments. If an assignment has different start/end dates or different posting requirements, the post may be graded differently once reassigned.

Having trouble?

If you run into any technical issues setting while using Continuous Discussion, please reach out to our support team at help@packback.co for assistance.