[Discussions] Allow instructor to block/moderate student from discussion board

[jolaine]

I have an instructor who says a student is repeatedly posting inappropriate content in a Discussion Board, even after the instructor has given guidance as to appropriate posting.  Currently, the only way to control this is for the instructor to go in and delete the offending messages, but by that time, the rest of the students may have seen it.

There should be a way for an instructor to set the discussion so that it must be moderated (posts don't appear to the students until the Teacher/TA has approved them) or that a particular student can be blocked from the discussion. 

[ndcruz]

Hi Daniel,

 I just read your post, and I agree that option 3 is also needed. This was an option in the previous learning management system at my college, and it was the one I used when I needed to moderate discussions. Thanks.

Noella Dcruz

[sringsmuth]

This would be a huge benefit, and I hope it's something Canvas can implement soon. Just have all posts go to some kind of a holding tank and instructors can mark them approved or unapproved would be better than nothing...

[nap28]

Moderation is also useful if you want students to see each other's work but want to check that work before they all see it. I had a system where students would post exercises to discussion forums. I would check to make sure they were ok and then release them for other students to comment on. Students were required to contribute a certain number of constructive comments throughout the semester. It's akin to Canvas's peer review function but more flexible.

[nap28]

I also find it hilarious that these comments are being moderated.

[abmaddox1]

How is this not a thing yet? This is way too much freedom for middle schoolers.

[mwolfenstein]

In terms of tools for moderating discussions I think you're hitting on some of the right tools in the tookit, but they need to be things that can be managed both at an admin and instructor level. In other words, in some institutions you might not even want to provide the ability to word filter. Then there's a separate question of how many warnings, what the specific consequences are when the cap is reached, and of course the ability to review decisions that were made either by the instructor or by the system in after action in-case a decision was made in error or for the wrong reasons.

So basically, yes, if we're talking about a much heftier suite of forum moderation tools, the ability to blacklist words, set automatic warnings and rules, and then moderate those decisions after the fact are all essential tools that are prevalent in online communities.

[dheup]

Excellent point. Deleting the post after it has been seen (and someone has a screenshot) will not save Canvas from getting sued. If we know that a student is likely to post something inappropriate and do nothing to stop it, we are likely to be held liable. Since we can't stop it, the only option is to not use discussions. All because one student acts inappropriately and Canvas hasn't come up with a solution yet.

[tricia]

I am a Product Manager for Harmonize, an online discussion platform, and one of our next features in our Roadmap is moderating student post.  I would love to get feedback from anyone above about how they would see this implemented and outline some use cases. If you are interested in helping us, please send me an email tricia@42lines.net.

Thank you,

Tricia Baker

[tladd]

I don't see any argument for NOT adding some kind of moderation feature. Instructors would be free to use it or not. My problem is I would like to encourage peer-to-peer consultation and collaboration on assignments (numerical analysis and coding problems), but not to allow students to give the whole problem away by posting a solution. I can prevent that if I can moderate the discussion posts. I agree moderation options would be good - but just a chance to review the post before it went online would be enough to start with. As it is I will have to see if the students can be responsible - otherwise it will not be usable.

[bogardde]

cholling‌

 @James ‌

...and other people in this discussion outside of the K-12 realm:

I appreciate your perspective on this topic, but I think I need to provide another piece of the context puzzle, illustrating why the moderation choice feature is a desperately needed feature in the K-12 public school world.

For students with mental illness or behavioral disabilities, this option would be an invaluable accommodation tool for the teacher to utilize. If a student is on an IEP or 504 plan for behavioral and/or psychological issues, teachers actually may be forbidden to block or excuse them from participating in a discussion that the rest of the class is having. Preventing them from having the opportunity to participate in an online discussion could be construed as a violation of their rights to equal education under the law.

As a case in point, we had an elementary student who submitted something inappropriate more than once to discussions that the rest of the class saw before the teacher got to it. Needless to say, there were repercussions for the teacher as well as for the student. However, the school was not permitted to exclude the student from the next discussion as a consequence, as they were on a 504 plan for behavioral problems and the parent objected. The courts are clearly on Kirk's side in the Spock-Kirk debate re: the needs of the many versus the needs of the few (or the one)...so arguing about it with an objecting parent is pointless.

Therefore, a teacher in this type of situation is faced with the options of:

(1) taking the risk that the student will do it again despite an after-the-fact intervention by teachers, administrators, and parents (and they do often repeat the behavior; they're on a special behavioral plan for good reason), thus disturbing/upsetting other students and parents before the teacher has a chance to intervene, then having to deal with the behavior after the fact with the student, as well as the subsequent fallout from other students, parents and administration;

(2) sitting with the Discussion open and refreshing the page constantly the entire time it's available, hoping to catch the problem before someone else sees it; or

(3) dropping the use of Discussions as too much of a risk.

Which option would you choose? And what a shame, because Discussions is an AMAZING instructional tool.

That is why we are BEGGING to have the option to moderate discussion posts, as teachers could confidently utilize the tool with the class and still be able to intervene, reteach, and give a student another opportunity to post correctly and assure they are receiving their "free appropriate education in the least restrictive environment possible."

Canvas does such a good job with providing accommodations for our students with disabilities. A moderation option for Discussions would be a game-changer for teachers and their students with behavioral/psychological disabilities.