Service Central

(253)530-3711
Login Sign up

Creating a Shared Discussion Across Sections or Courses

Modified on: Mon, 14 Apr 2025 8:40 AM
Was this answer helpful?

Keywords: Schoology, Course, Share, Discussion

Aliases:



Sharing Discussions

You can share your ungraded discussion with other courses. This feature is located in Options when creating a discussion and must be done at time you create the discussion.

Click here to learn more about Schoology Discussions.

Note: You cannot opt to mark a discussion as a shared discussion after you have created it. The Shared Discussion icon only appears when you are creating a new discussion.

To create a Shared Discussion:

  1. Click Add Materials.
  2. Select Add Discussion.
  3. Enter a title and a description or instructions.
  4. Select Shared Discussion in Options.


5. Select a section you administer to share the discussion. You can also password protect your shared discussion (optional).

6. Click Create.

Note: Do not Enable Grading. Graded discussions cannot be shared.


How students in other course/classes join your discussion if you are not an Admin in that course:

Sharing the discussion will give the discussion a Share ID that other instructors can use to join their classes into the same discussion. 


Screen_Shot_2016-02-03_at_11.21.32_AM.png

  1. Click Share with your courses to add additional sections you administer to the discussion.
  2. Copy the Share ID number and distribute it to other instructors if you would like to share the discussion with other courses taught by others.


Joining a Shared Discussion: 

If another instructor has shared their discussion's Share ID with you, you can use that to add the shared discussion to your own course, so that all of your students can collectively participate in one big discussion across sections.

To join a shared discussion:

  1. On your Materials, page use the Materials Filter and sort by Discussions.

    Note: You must have one existing discussion in your materials for this to appear as an option.

  2. Click Options
  3. Select Join Shared Discussion
  4. Enter the Share ID, or the Discussion ID provided to you and the passcode, if applicable.
  5. Click Join Discussion.

Screen_Shot_2018-05-25_at_16.04.16_PM.png


Limitations of Shared Discussions:

  • If you do not see the option to share the discussion under Advanced, it is likely that Grading is enabled. Graded discussions cannot be shared with other courses.
  • You cannot share discussions after they have been created.
  • Shared discussions are not available across linked sections.
  • The Share ID does not appear unless the discussion is already shared with another course you administer.
Was this answer helpful?