Harmonize Q&A Boards

Overview

Harmonize Q&A Boards are a great space for instructors and students to ask and answer each other's questions. There are two types of Q&A Boards:

• Course Q&A: You may create one Course Q&A Board per course. Use this board to ask and answer general questions about the course.
• Topic Q&A: You may create multiple Topic Q&A Boards. Use these boards to focus questions and answers on particular discussions or modules.

Creating Q&A Boards

• Canvas: For instructions on how to add a Q&A Board to a Canvas module see our guide on Adding Harmonize to Modules (Canvas).
• Blackboard, D2L | Brightspace, and Moodle: To add a Q&A Board, follow the same basic instructions as Creating a Graded Discussion but select "Course Q&A" or "Topic Q&A" rather than "Discussion".

User Interface

• In default view all questions are displayed.
• If there is a Best Answer for a question, then that response will display below the question.
• If no Best Answer is marked on a response, then the response that received the most endorsements (good response) will display below the question.
• If no responses have been added then only the question will display.
• Users can click on a question to view details of that individual question and all responses.
• A Thumbs up icon shows a count of all endorsements when the question has been marked as a Good Question.
• A summary of responses is displayed at the bottom of each answer.

Adding a Question

Click the Ask a Question text field to see the Harmonize Editor, allowing the author to give the question a title, tag users, enter rich text, upload files, record audio / video or add math equations with the ADA Compliant Harmonize Equation Editor:

If the Q&A Board has Anonymous settings turned on, the user can select to post their question Anonymously:

Click Publish to create the question

Reviewing Questions

Click on a question to expand the question content and view all answers. Users can mark a question as Good Question.  Users can either reply to other users' answers by clicking Reply or create their own answers by clicking Respond or Add Response.  Any answer can be endorsed as a Good Answer.  Questions and answers will be noted with a circle with a thumbs up for student's who endorsed them or an apple with a thumbs up for instructor endorsements.

The author of a question or the instructor of the course can mark an answer as the Best Answer. Users can reply directly to an answer, or answer a question.  When finished reviewing the discussion thread attached to that individual answer, click the All Questions button to return to the list of all questions.

Identifying the Best Answer

An answer be displayed with a Best Answer tag if the instructor has marked it as the Best Answer. When given permission in the Q&A Board settings, the student author of a question may also be able to select the Best Answer.

A response marked Best Answer can also be removed by the Instructor or Authoring Student.  Only one Best Answer can be selected per question.

Endorsements

Click on the endorsement icon to see who endorsed any given question or answer.

Searching, Filtering, and Sorting

The Harmonize Q&A Board provides three separate tools for users to quickly find the questions and answers they need. Filter, Sort, and Search each provide unique ways to arrange questions, answers, and responses.

Search

To search for a specific question or answer, enter keywords and search.  You can interact with questions and answers directly from the search results.

Filter By

You can filter questions by clicking on the Filter By dropdown, adjust the available filters and click Apply Filters.

•  Review Type
  • Show All: Displays all posts
  • New / Unread: Displays only new and/or unread posts
  • Flagged: Displays only flagged posts

• Endorsement Type 
  • Show All: Displays all posts
  • Best Answer: Displays all posts endorsed as Best Answer 
  • No Best Answer: Displays all posts not endorsed as Best Answer
  • Good Answer: Displays all posts endorsed as Good Answer
  • Good Question: Displays all posts endorsed as Good Question

• Responses
  • Show All: Displays all posts
  • Has Responses: Displays only posts with responses
  • No Responses: Displays only posts with no responses

Sort By

Questions are always sorted by the date they were published, but you can adjust how they are sorted by selecting from the Sort By dropdown: 

• Newest: Displays posts newest to oldest.
• Oldest: Displays posts oldest to newest.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. How can I change the Anonymous Setting in my Q&A boards?

• Anonymous Settings are located in the Post Settings tab of your Edit Course Q&A page.
• Please note that Anonymous Settings cannot be changed once students begin participating in the Q&A board.