[Discussions] Visibility of instructor replies to discussions

[Steven_S]

Currently discussions can be set up to prevent students  from seeing any reply posts until after they add their own post.  Instructors can post (even before students get to the discussion) their own reply, but in this case students will not see the instructor's reply until after they have posted.

I suggest adding a way, for instructors only, to be able to mark their own reply to be visible right away, even if all others replies are hidden pending the student's first reply.

This would enable example posts and tips from instructors to be seen before the student posts, separately from the main instructions, but as the only initial visible response(s).

[Stef_retired]

@Steven_S 

Thanks for sharing this idea. It would seem to pair well with  Pin Discussion Posts from Instructor, so please add your comment and rating to that as well if you haven't already.

[Steven_S]

@Stef_retired thanks!  I was sure there would already be one for that 🙂

[kylecage0]

This would be great if we could allow students to see replies from their instructor while still retaining the "users must post before seeing replies" for student replies. Basically a way to allow them to see instructor replies only until they have posted their initial post. Instructors want to be able to do "starter posts" as a way to kind of get the conversation started each week but right now the students can't see those until after they post their initial replies. 

[ModeratorPanda]

Thank you for sharing this idea with the Instructure Community!

With the release of the Announcements/Discussions Redesign, the Product Team reviewed some related feature proposals, and unfortunately, this request was identified as one that they would not be able to include in their current or future plans. While we appreciate your proposal, we also want to be transparent about the likelihood of something like this making it to production.

Thank you for collaborating, and we hope that you submit another idea in the future!