Advanced Interaction Online
With Instructors and Classmates
Create an Activity Feed Post
Activity Feed is a course homepage widget that provides a central location for learners and instructors to post messages that are visible to the entire class. For example, your instructor might post reminders about upcoming assignments and links to course materials. Instructors determine if learners can post Activity Feed messages. This feature may not be available in all courses.
You can add attachments by copying and pasting a web link or embed code, or using the attachment icons. For a rich and immersive experience, most attachments can be previewed, viewed, or interacted with directly in the feed. For example, web links show a thumbnail and description, if available. Images uploaded from your computer, remote plug-in attachments, and videos embedded from YouTube, Vimeo, and TED display directly in the feed and can be viewed without leaving the course homepage.
Note: The Activity Feed only renders embedded material that administrators have set using the Trusted Sites tool. If you attempt to embed an untrusted site, the material is attached, but as a non-embedded web link.
To post messages and add attachments:
Navigate to a course homepage with the Activity Feed widget available.
Click anywhere in the Create a post text box.
Enter a message
Optionally, add an attachment by doing one of the following:
To attach a web link or embed code, copy and paste the link or embed code in the message.
Click the attach icon, and do one or more of the following:
To upload a file from your computer, click the file upload icon.
To attach a link to course materials, click the existing activity icon.
To attach a web link, click the weblink icon.
To attach a link to a Google Drive file from your Google account, click the Google Drive icon.Note: Before attaching the link, ensure that the file has proper visibility permissions in Google Drive.
To attach a link to a OneDrive file from your OneDrive account, click the OneDrive icon.Note: Before attaching the link, ensure that the file has proper visibility permissions in OneDrive.
To insert videos from YouTube, Vimeo, and TED, click the video icon and add a URL.
Click Post.
Note: You may not see all the icons listed above. The attachment options are determined by the permissions and integrations available at your organization.
Create a personal chat with the Chat tool
The Chat tool is a real-time, text-based collaboration tool. You can use the Chat tool to brainstorm ideas, hold a question and answer period, have a debate or discussion, or organize a remote study group. As opposed to other collaboration tools, such as Discussions, Chat conversations occur in real-time.
You can create personal chats to talk with peers or other friends at your organization. You can create personal chats from any org unit, and you can access them within any other org unit.
Personal chat rooms can only be accessed by users who have been added to the personal chat’s Participant List. When users are added, the chat room displays under Personal Chats in their list of chats.
To create a personal chat with the Chat tool
On the navbar, click Chat.
On the Chat List page, click New Chat.
Enter a title.
Click Personal Chat.
Enter a description of the chat. Give your chat a unique, descriptive name and provide a description for it using the Description field to help users distinguish the chat from other chats they are enrolled in.
Click Create.