It is not possible for instructors to use the old Discussions and Announcements tools. 

All Discussions and Announcements in past Canvas classes were automatically converted to the redesigned format. Posts, replies, and grades were preserved. 

Important: The Manage Discussions button may appear when you access legacy Discussions (Discussions created prior to the Discussion redesign). The purpose of this button is to allow you to select whether your legacy Discussions are threaded (Discussions with nested replies) or not threaded (flat Discussions where students can only reply to the instructor's prompt). More information about the Manage Discussion button. 

The Discussions and Announcements interface has a new look and feel.

New Menu Bar

1. View Split Screen/View Inline - Split Screen displays a post's replies in a sidebar. Inline displays posts and replies in a traditional single-column format.
2. Expand/Collapse Threads - Expand and collapse all threads in the Discussion.
3. Group Discussion button - The Group Discussion Menu button displays a list of Group Discussions and the number of unread posts for each Group Discussion. 
4. Assign To - The Assign To button lets instructors assign a Discussion to specific students, sections, or groups instead of everyone. You can set unique availability and due dates for each audience so learners only see and can post during their window.
5. View All/View Unread Replies - Filter Discussion by Unread to view only the replies you have not read.  
6. Search box - Enter a term to search all Discussion replies.
7. Sort - Sort the order of Discussion threads oldest to newest or newest to oldest.

New Location of Edit Button

The Edit button from classic Discussions has been replaced with an Edit link. To edit a Discussion, click its kebab and select Edit. 

Resources

• Interface Modifications document
• Toolbar document

When Teachers and TAs post in Discussions and Announcements, their posts contain a label identifying their role. A label also indicates the author of the Discussion or Announcement.

Resources

Role Label documentation from Instructure

The Quote Reply feature inserts the text of the post you're replying to directly into your reply, so it’s always clear which message you’re replying to.

Quote Reply is especially valuable in deeply nested discussions (e.g., a reply to a reply to a reply) because quoting the source prevents any confusion about which comment you’re responding to.

Using the Quote Reply Feature

To reply with the original post embedded as a quote, follow these steps:

1 Instead of clicking the Reply button to reply to a post, click the post's kebab.

2 Select Quote Reply. 

3 After clicking Quote Reply, do the following:

1. Make sure the Include Quoted Reply in Message toggle is on.
2. Type your reply.
3. Press the Reply button to post to the Discussion.

4 When you post your reply, a quote from the post you are replying to appears at the top of your reply.

Resources

• Quote Reply video
• Quote Reply document

You can tag other members of your class using the @mention feature in a reply. Simply type the at sign (@) in your reply, and select a name from the list of people in the class (e.g., @Jane Smith). The person will receive a Canvas notification when you post the reply. 

Resources

• @Mentions in Replies video
• @Mentions document

You can display replies to posts in Split Screen or Inline mode. Click the View Split Screen/View Inline button to switch viewing mode.

Split Screen - Displays a thread's replies in a sidebar. Note that the sidebar only displays when you click to view a thread's replies. 

Inline - Displays posts and replies in a traditional single-column format.

Resources

• Inline View and Split Screen View video
• Viewing Options document

What Are Threaded Discussions?

Threaded Discussions are the default type of Canvas Discussion.

In a threaded Discussion, when a student replies to the instructor's prompt, Canvas creates a new thread in the Discussion. Replies to a thread are nested underneath and indented to show the conversation hierarchy. This makes it easy to follow multiple conversations within the same Discussion topic. You can click the Collapse Threads/Expand Threads button to expand and collapse the replies to the threads. 

The following is a Discussion with collapsed threads.

The following is a Discussion with expanded threads. 

Can I Turn Off Threaded Discussions?

When you create a Discussion, the Disallow Threaded Replies checkbox determines whether your Discussion is threaded or not.

Disallow Threaded Replies Checkbox

• Unchecked - To create a threaded discussion, Leave Disallow Threaded Replies unchecked. 
• Checked - To create a Discussion that does not have threads, check Disallow Threaded Replies. Note that a Discussion without threads only allows students to reply to the instructor's Discussion prompt. No one can reply to each other's replies. This is a single-level Discussion where all responses appear in one list. 

Important: You cannot change this setting after students have replied to the Discussion. 

Sorting Threads

Click the Sort button to sort a Discussion's threads (top-level posts) by their creation date: oldest to newest or newest to oldest.

Note that this only sorts the Discussion's threads (the direct replies to the instructor's prompt). The sort does not affect the order of the replies within a thread. Replies within a thread are always sorted oldest to newest.

Discussion View Settings

Instructors can configure a default Discussion view for themselves and their students.

1. Default Thread State - Determines whether threads in a Discussion are expanded or collapsed when the Discussion opens.

   • Expanded - The Discussion opens with expanded threads. Students can collapse threads unless Lock Thread State for Students is checked.

   • Collapsed - The Discussion opens with collapsed threads. Students can expand threads unless Lock Thread State for Students is checked.

2. Lock Thread State for Students - When this box is checked, students cannot change their Discussion view from the Default Thread State set by the instructor.
   
   
3. Default Sort Order -  Determines the order in which the threads in a discussion are displayed. Sort order does NOT affect the order in which replies to a thread are displayed - replies to a thread are always sorted oldest to newest.

   • Oldest First - When instructor selects Oldest First, the Discussion opens with oldest threads first and newest threads last. Students can choose to sort the threads by newest first unless the Lock Sort Order for Students checkbox is checked.

   • Newest First - When instructor selects Newest First, the Discussion opens with newest threads first and oldest threads last. Students can choose to sort the threads by oldest first unless the Lock Sort Order for Students checkbox is checked.

4. Lock Sort Order for Students - When this box is checked, students cannot change their Discussion thread sort order set by the instructor.

Resources

• Managing Discussions and Understanding Reply Levels (Hierarchy), Sort, and Quote Replies video
• Threaded Discussion Hierarchy Explained
• Sort Menu document
• Sort Discussion

Participants can use the Report feature to discreetly report inappropriate comments to the instructor. The instructor will receive an email notification about the post that has been reported. 

Resources

• Discussion Reply Reporting video
• Reply Reporting document
• Turn on Reply Reporting document
• How Students Report Replies document

Instructors and TAs can view the edit history for replies and can click to view each version of the reply.

Resources

• Discussions Edit HistoryVideo
• Reply History document

Instructors can choose to create fully or partially anonymous Discussions. Fully anonymous discussions assign a random identifier to each student participant. Partially anonymous discussions allow students to decide if they would like to reply anonymously or with their name listed. Instructors and TAs are never anonymous.

Important: You cannot edit Anonymous and Partially Anonymous Discussion settings once students have posted in a Discussion. 

Resources

• Anonymous and Partially Anonymous Discussions video
• Anonymous Discussions document

The hierarchy (indented levels) of nested replies in threaded Discussions has changed. Note in the picture below how deep levels of replies (level 3 and beyond) all have the same indent level. 

Important: If you're having difficulty determining who is replying to whom in deeply nested Discussions, consider having students use the Quote Reply feature.

This video explains the nesting hierarchy of redesigned Discussions

• Quote Reply in Discussions and Announcements
• Managing Discussions and Understanding Reply Levels, Sort, and Quote Replies
• Inline View and Split Screen View
• Discussion Reply Reporting
• @Mentions in Replies
• Quote Replies
• Discussions Edit History
• Post Before Seeing Replies Discussion
• Anonymous and Partially Anonymous Discussions

• Redesigned Announcements for Instructors / Redesigned Announcements for Students 
• Redesigned Discussions for Instructor / Redesigned Discussions for Students

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