About Anonymous Discussions

Table of contents

Participants in an anonymous discussion are not able to view the real usernames or avatars of other participants. Instead, all participants are assigned a randomized “color and animal” username & avatar combination, such as “Purple Butterfly”.
Discussion admins are able to view the “real” usernames of all participants in the discussion if they choose to (see here).
Participants in an anonymous discussion are informed of their newly assigned username upon entering the discussion for the first time.
Once a discussion is anonymized, it cannot be reverted back to a standard discussion.
Discussions can either be anonymized when creating a new discussion or using a template (i.e. be anonymous from the start), or be converted to an anonymous discussion from a standard discussion.
Students can theoretically work out the identity of other participants, such as if they reveal any personally identifiable information in a comment or the discussion chat.

Tip: You may wish to remind students that as discussion Admins, teachers/educators are able to view the real usernames of all participants.

How to Anonymize an Existing Discussion

Note: Only discussion Admins can anonymize a discussion.

Reminder: Standard Participation discussions can be converted to Anonymous Participation discussions, however this change cannot be reverted.

To anonymize an existing discussion:

Click the ≡ (three horizontal lines) in the top-left of a discussion.
Select Settings.
Scroll down to the Anonymous Participation section and click Change Participation Type.
Select Anonymous Participation, then click Save.

To anonymize a new discussion, select the relevant option while creating a discussion.

Note: Only discussion Admins are able to view the real usernames of users in an anonymous discussion.

Owner or Admins can choose to view the real usernames of participants in an anonymous discussion:

To download a .csv file of usernames and passwords, click the (download icon) button.