Why are deleted posts still visible on the Discussion Board?

[Dr_Rebecca_Wood]

The text of the deleted comment is gone, but there is still a non-editable record in our Discussion Board showing who deleted the post and when it was deleted, as shown below:

Deleted by Rebecca WoodDeleted Jan 18 10:50pm

 

Deleted by Rebecca WoodDeleted Jan 18 10:50pm

 

Seeing these deletion messages is not helpful and implies that something important may be missing.  Why aren't deleted messages really gone?

 

Thank you.

[SusanNiemeyer · Accepted solution]

If you go into "Student View," do you still see the deletion messages? I haven't checked, but I'm curious whether you do.

As an instructor of a course, personally I want to see some record of what I've done, including whether I've deleted comments in a Discussion. I undestand why, though, we wouldn't want students to see this. 

[Dr_Rebecca_Wood]

Hi, I can't try this right now, because I have reverted to the previous version of the Discussion software for now.  I will check on this when I switch to the new version of the software.  Thank you!!

[MirandaMorris]

You can still see them in student view.

[hesspe]

I consider the fact that deleted posts to are indicated to be VERY important for academic integrity and to inhibit inappropriate responses.  In particular, if there is a requirement that students post before reading other posts, stealth deletion allows a student to post, read, delete, repost without detection.