Click on the Turn editing on button (if it is not already on).
In the appropriate week or topic section click on the Add an activity or resource link and select Forum under ACTIVITIES, then click on the Add button.
Type in a Forum name - this is the link that the students will click on to access the Forum.
Enter a Description (optional).
Select a Forum type. Generally, Standard forum for general use is the correct type, but there are some other types you may want to use depending on what you need:
A single simple discussion - this is similar to the old-timey newsgroups. There is only one topic and everything is displayed on one page.
Each person posts one discussion - each student can start their own topic (only one) and everyone can respond to everyone else's topics.
Q and A forum - each student must create their own post before they can see and respond to others' posts. This can encourage students to think for themselves and post their own thoughts.
Attachments and word count - this section allows you to allow or disallow file attachments. Here you select how many attachments are allowed (starting with 0) and how big these attachments can be. You can also select whether a word count will be displayed when students write their posts.
Subscription and tracking - this section controls students' ability to "subscribe" to a Forum. DO NOT set Subscription mode to Forced subscription unless you want everyone to receive an email EVERY time a post is written. Optional subscription is ideal. Read tracking should be set to Optional. This allows students to easily see which posts they have or haven't yet read.
Turnitin plagiarism plugin settings - if students are to be marked on their contributions (i.e. content), then you may want to consider using the Turnitin options.
Add an activity or resource link and select Forum under ACTIVITIES, then click on the Add button.