As an instructor of large class sizes, I like to offer multiple prompt options for students to choose from for each discussion. To keep all posts organized within the same thread for a given prompt, I create the initial posts that serve to launch each prompt thread. However, launching each prompt thread with a post is problematic because 1. I can't use the "participants must respond...before viewing" feature and 2. I can't copy over those prompt thread launching posts to new courses.
It would be super helpful to have a feature that allows the teacher to set up the initial threads for a discussion that are not subject to the conditions that posts are. Maybe a special type of post that only instructors can create that gets copied over to new courses and that still appears even when students are required to post first before seeing other students' posts? Or maybe it is not a post per se but just a header item that can be placed in the replies area that students can sort their responses under? Whatever the solution, it would allow an instructor to set up a multi-prompt discussion so that replies to a given prompt are organized within the thread for that prompt.
admin,instructor,designer
