If you have a long message for the Discussion Board, you may want to write it first in your word processing program, then revise and edit your document so that your ideas are clearly stated and free from errors. Then you can copy the contents of that document and paste them into the message box of the discussion forum. To copy from a word processing document and paste what you have copied into a discussion thread, follow the steps below.

1. Connect to your course. Login to your Blackboard course.

1. a. Once you have entered your course, connect to the Discussion Board by clicking on the link in either the Communication area or the menu:

2. Once you enter the Discussion Board, you must enter the discussion forum and either respond to a person's message or start a new message. You enter the discussion forum by clicking on the link to the title of the forum: "Film Report Two," as shown below. You reply to an existing message by clicking on the title of the person's message and then clicking the "Reply" button. You can start a new message by clicking the "New Thread" button and then clicking in the message box.

2. Open your word processing program. With your Internet connection to the message box remaining open, click on the Start button in the lower left corner of the screen and click on Programs and then Microsoft Word.

1. Then open your document with the text you want to copy and paste into the discussion forum message box.

2. Then while holding down the control key (Ctrl, just below the shift key), press the "A" key. All your text should be selected (highlighted). Then hold down the control key and press "C." (If you prefer, you can click with the right mouse button and then click on "Select All" or click on "Edit" on the Menu bar at the top of your screen and click on "Select All."

3. The result will be all your text will be highlighted with text on a black background:

4. Then use a similar process with either the right mouse button or the Edit Menu to copy your document.

3. Return to your Discussion Board forum by clicking on the link to Blackboard at the bottom of your screen.

1. Type the title requested by your instructor in the "Subject" box.

Make sure your cursor is still blinking in the message box or click in the message box again. Then hold down the control key and while holding it down, press the "V" key.

2. This will insert the contents of your word processing document into the message box. Then click the "Submit" button at the end of the message box. If you spot any mistakes, click on the "Edit" button at the top of your message, make changes, and then click the "Submit" button.