Student Guide: Ed Discussion

What Is Ed Discussion (ED)?

  • Ed Discussion is a discussion platform where students, TAs, and instructors engage in threaded discussions. It supports collaborative features like code execution, video embedding, image annotation, and document sharing.
  • You can post questions anonymously, visible only to the instructor. The platform offers various filtering options: favoriting threads, sorting by recency, or categorizing, like viewing all lecture-related queries. Additionally, the board is searchable for convenience.

 

How to Use ED

You will need the following before you can complete this task: 

  1. You will need access to Canvas.
  2. If you are using Ed Discussion in a course that does not use Canvas, you may log in with your Penn email address at https://edstem.org/us/login.

If your instructor enabled ED, you would be able to access ED from the course menu.

A screenshot of a computerDescription automatically generated

 

Guide to Understanding Thread Icons in ED:

  • Blue Dot : Represents unread threads that you haven't viewed yet.
  • Green Check : Denotes questions that have been resolved or answered.
  • Purple Pin : These threads are pinned to the top for more visibility, typically for announcements or critical information. Only instructors can pin threads.
  • Blue Ribbon : Threads that have been endorsed by course instructors, signifying high-quality content.
  • Heart : Indicates agreement. Hearts remain anonymous and don't reveal who clicked them.
  • Star A yellow star on a white backgroundDescription automatically generated: Threads you've bookmarked for future reference. These bookmarks are private to you.
  • Eye Icon A blue and white logoDescription automatically generated: Threads you've subscribed to, meaning you'll receive email notifications for thread activity.
  • "S" Icon A green square with a white letter sDescription automatically generated: Shows a student has provided an answer in the thread.
  • "I" Icon A blue square with a white letterDescription automatically generated: Indicates an instructor responded to the thread.