A forum is a Moodle activity. A forum is a place where students can have asynchronous discussions (i.e. discussions that take place over an extended period of time). Students communicate with each other by posting and replying to messages. Students can post files, images, and videos within a forum discussion. Learn to recognize the icon for Moodle forums:

Moodle forum icon

Discussion threads

Within each forum, there may be a number of individual discussions taking place. Discussions are similar to threads.

Forum subscription

Participants can subscribe to a forum to receive notifications of new forum posts. A teacher can set the subscription mode to optional, forced or auto, or prevent subscription completely. If required, students can be blocked from posting more than a given number of posts in a given time period; this can prevent individuals from dominating discussions.

Uses of Forums

Forums are among the most popular Moodle activities at RRU, and most Moodle courses will include several forums for students to share, discuss, and engage with each other and their instructor. Indeed, forums have many uses, such as:

  • A social space for students to get to know each other
  • For course announcements (using a news forum with forced subscription)
  • For discussing course content or reading materials
  • For continuing online an issue raised previously in a face-to-face session
  • For teacher-only discussions (using a hidden forum)
  • A help centre where tutors and students can give advice
  • A one-on-one support area for private student-teacher communications (using a forum with separate groups and with one student per group)
  • For extension activities, for example ‘brain teasers’ for students to ponder and suggest solutions to

Learn more & practice using Moodle forums

If you would like to learn more about how to set up and use forums, check out these resources in the Knowledgebase or search for the keyword "forums":

If you are ready to practice using a Moodle forum, visit the page Practice in a Moodle forum for instructions.

Last modified: Tuesday, 21 March 2023, 2:19 PM