1. Ignore the forum.  This limits your learning experience to reading the class material and to using it at your own pace.  (However, students may get occasional emails from the teacher.)  This is the default setting.  
   OR
2. Visit the forum online only.  You can still reply to any post, but you won't get forum posts (emails) coming to your inbox.  Also, some students find that reading the emails online makes them easier to understand, because they  nest together, making it easier to follow the conversation.  (This may be the best option for dial-up users.)  
   OR
3. Subscribe to the forum.  This gives you the most interaction with your classmates, as well as the teacher.  You will receive posts in your email inbox, but you can control the frequency and the content.

• - Login, and go to the main classroom page.
• - Click on the forum link, located in the top text box.

On the forum page, you can subscribe to the forum and ask to have unread posts tracked, if desired.  You will have the opportunity to select or deselect these options every time you come to this page.

If you decide to subscribe, you can choose between three additional options.

1. Get every email as it's posted.  This is the default setting.
2. Get all the posts once daily.
3. Get the subject lines only, once daily.

To choose options 2 or 3, go to Edit Account. 

Hint:  You can tell what page you're on by looking at the "breadcrumbs" in the top aqua bar.  The partial  page showing, at right, is the IAQ Forum for the class which started in November of 2007.

Once you're in the forum, you can either click on a discussion topic, to read it, or click on Add a New Discussion Topic.  

If you intend to participate in Show and Tell, it is HIGHLY recommended that you start a new topic for the photos you'll be uploading.   Call it "Your Name S & T" or something like that.  This will nest all of your photos in one spot.  It will show them in chronological order, along with all the comments, so it will be easily understandable by everyone.  Continue reading to learn how to post messages to your topic.

If you select an existing discussion topic, the original post will appear, with all the responses nested below it.

To reply, click on the button at the bottom right.

The reply box will appear, below the message to which you're responding.  (You can respond to any in the string.)  See the example and directions at right.

Adding a new topic works in exactly the same way.

When you're through typing your message, scroll down.

You can add a photo if you'd like.  See the example and directions at right.

Photo files MUST be jpgs, with an optimum size of no more than 700 pixels on the longest side.  To learn more about resizing photos, go to Resizing Photos.

Click Post to forum to send your message.