Unable to see new discussion posts

[thomasks27]

Hello! I am wondering if someone can help me figure out where new discussion posts are going. I have my notifications set to email me every time a new post or reply is posted in my course. For the past two times I've been emailed, I haven't been able to see these posts in the discussion thread. Thoughts? For added context, these are students posting using a link embedded in a different (orientation) course. 

[chriscas]

Hi @thomasks27,

Can you clarify the statement "these are students posting using a link embedded in a different (orientation) course" please?  That sounds pretty unusual to me.  While I suppose it's possible to give a link to a discussion happening in course A to students in course B, I'd probably say it's not a best practice and could be causing some of the confusion here.  If that is the case, I'd expect a notification to come form course A, as thats where the discussion lives, and you should be able to find the posts there.  I could be totally misinterpreting the situation though, so any clarity you can add would be appreciated!

-Chris

[thomasks27]

Hi @chriscas! Yes, I can clarify. We have two courses that students interact with during their student orientation. One is the actual orientation course and the other is the virtual student community. In the orientation course, one of the assignments is for students to introduce themself in the virtual student community. So, we have a link embedded in the orientation course for them to access the discussion board in the student community. I hope this helps to clarify!

[chriscas]

Hi,

I would think that method would work okay as long as the two courses are in the same Canvas instance. When you get the notifications, which course are they coming from (I would think the virtual community)?  When you go to the discussion thread, do you just see nothing from the students you were notified about, or is it blank, or what exactly do you see?  I'd sometimes ask for a screenshot, but in this case I will not because it would show real student names and posts.  This one seems very weird to me, but I'm sure there's some kind of logical explanation!

-Chris

[thomasks27]

Hi Chris, 

When I click on the link titled "click here to join the conversation" in the email notification, it takes me to the discussion board but doesn't show the new post. Oddly, I was able to see the post from a new student earlier this week, but the other two still aren't showing. 

[chriscas]

Hi @thomasks27,

The discussion ins't set up to be a group one is it?  The other thing that could come into play is whether that virtual community uses Canvas sections, and whether you may be limited to only view things in certain sections and not the whole course for some reason.

-Chris

[thomasks27]

Hi Chris, 

The discussion is not set up as a group. We also do not use sections in the virtual community. I will likely just ask the students to repost their intros again directly into the student community. I'm stumped!