1) Questions from students can pile up quickly. You can respond to each one individually.
Or...you can open a Q & A forum for questions and answers.
This allows the students to post questions in a central location. All students will be able to see all the questions, and all the answers.
Usually, Faculty begin by answering the posted questions. However, as you move through the term, students may begin to contribute answers to their classmates' questions as well.
2) Turn editing on.
3) You want to add an activity. For instructions about adding an activity see the page Overview Middle here, step 8.
4) When you click Add an activity, Forum will be in the alphabetized list. Select it.
This is the page you will then see.
5) In the Forum Name line, type Q & A Forum - or, whatever you want to call this forum.
In Description, you want to explain to students the purpose and operation of the forum.
6) The first line under the Description box reads Display Description on Course Page. Clicking on the small checkbox to the right of the line will make your description visible on the main page. It is advisable to do this for the early stages so that the students will learn its function.
7) The next line reads Forum type.
8) There are 5 forum types available.
The one titled Q & A forum is NOT the one you want.
The one you DO want is called Standard forum for General Use. Select it.
9) There are other sections on the Forum page.
An important one is Subscription and tracking.
There are 2 drop down menus.
For the Q&A, you want to choose Forced Subscription. This will push questions and answers out to all members of the course - professors and students. This will keep everyone up to date on questions and answers.
10) The second drop down menu is Read tracking. By default, it reads optional. Leave it.