§1 · Reading the prompt
Every discussion room opens with a prompt — a question your professor wrote, with an optional source reading and a short framing paragraph. Read the framing first. Click Open the reading (in the thread header, when available) to read the source inline. The prompt tells you the minimum words expected and how many replies are required.
§2 · Posting your take
Use the composer at the bottom of the room. Think in paragraphs, not bullet points — this is a seminar, not a comment section. The meta-pills above the text track your word count and whether you've cited yet. Hit ⌘↵ (or Ctrl+↵) to post. URLs you paste become clickable links automatically; nothing fancy needed.
§3 · Citing and quoting
Use the + cite button to paste (Author, 2017, p. X) or type ( to pull from your professor's Library. Put quoted text in double quotes and cite the page. Citing well is a third of the rubric.
§4 · Replying well
Click Reply on a post to start a thread. Quote the specific sentence you're responding to — don't paraphrase unfairly. Disagree with the argument, not the person. Replies count toward the "replies required" on the prompt. The reply window has its own + attach button if you need to drop a file alongside your reply.
§5 · Assignments & submissions
Formal written work lives in the Assignments tab. Open the card to see the rubric. Click Start submission to open a draft — drafts autosave. Hit Submit when you're done. Once graded, your score and your professor's feedback appear in the same window. Peer feedback (when your class uses peer review) shows up below your grade once your professor releases it — see §11.
§6 · Announcements
Pinned announcements show as a banner at the top of the forum until you tap Got it. All announcements live in the Announcements tab.
§7 · Anonymous posts
The composer has an ask anonymously toggle. Classmates see "anonymous"; your professor still sees your name (a small anon badge tells them you chose to post that way). Use it when you're unsure — not when you want to dodge accountability.
§8 · Chat rooms
Rooms in the Chats section of the sidebar are flat and casual — no prompt, no grading, no word count. Hit Enter to send, Shift+Enter for a new line.
§9 · Direct messages
Open the Direct messages section in the sidebar and click + new to start a 1:1 conversation with anyone in your class. Only the two of you can read what's said — your professor cannot read student-to-student DMs (a small "private" banner in the room confirms it). DMs work like chat: flat, casual, no grading.
Some classes turn off student-to-student DMs entirely. If yours has, you can still DM your teacher or TA — they'll see a message from you anytime. Lost device? Email your school admin to disable 2FA.
§10 · Attaching files
The + attach button on the composer lets you drop in PDFs, Word docs, images, and plain-text files (up to 25 MB each). Files appear as small chips before you post; click × on a chip to drop it. After you post, images render inline and other files appear as clickable download links beneath your text.
Attachments need cloud mode (your school's hosted Scholar). The local-demo version doesn't keep files.
§11 · Peer review
If your professor sets up peer review on an assignment, you'll see a banner on that assignment card: "X peer reviews to write." Click Open reviews to see your queue.
- Read the assignment first, then read your classmate's submission. Names are hidden — you're scoring the writing, not the writer.
- Score against the rubric. Each line gets a number from 0 to its max. Be honest, not generous.
- Write feedback. Specific, kind, direct — in that order. "Your second paragraph drops the thread of your thesis" beats "good job."
- Submit. Once submitted, you can re-open it as read-only but can't edit.
When your professor releases peer reviews, the feedback you received shows up under your own submission with reviewer names removed (just "Reviewer 1," "Reviewer 2"). It's anonymous in both directions.
§12 · Search
Hit ⌘K (or Ctrl+K) from anywhere to focus the search bar. Type two or more characters and Scholar searches posts, prompts, announcements, and assignments in your active class. Use ↑/↓ to walk results, ↵ to open one, Esc to dismiss. Older posts (beyond what's loaded in your browser) are searched on the server and tagged archive.
§13 · Grades & feedback
Your grades are visible to you and class staff only (your professor and any TAs they've appointed — see §14). Open an assignment you've submitted to see the score and feedback. Discussion posts get rubric stars in the thread — hover to see the breakdown.
If a grade decision involved an AI-checker signal on your writing, you have the right to see exactly which signals fired and the underlying measurements. Email privacy@ your school's deployment, or ask your professor — they're required to provide it.
§14 · Roles in your class
Three roles exist per class:
- Professor — the teacher who created the class. Posts wear a professor tag in ink-blue.
- Teaching assistant — a student the professor has promoted to help grade. Posts wear a teaching assistant tag in sienna. TAs can grade and see the teacher panel; they can't delete the class or remove the professor.
- Student — everyone else.
Roles are class-specific: a student in one class can be a TA in another.
§15 · Your account
Your name and email are visible to your class. Email your school admin if either needs to change.
The avatar in the topbar opens a menu with Switch user, Two-factor authentication (§16), Export my data (§17), Download class calendar (.ics), and Delete my account (§17).
§16 · Two-factor authentication
Open the avatar menu → Two-factor authentication. Click + Add authenticator, scan the QR code with any standard app (1Password, Authy, Google Authenticator, Microsoft Authenticator), then type the six-digit code your app shows to confirm.
Once enabled, every sign-in asks for your code after your password. Lost your device? Email your school admin — they can disable 2FA on your account from the database. We deliberately don't email recovery codes; an email account compromise would defeat the point of 2FA.
Strongly recommended for teacher and TA accounts (grade-change access).
§17 · Your data & privacy
Scholar stores your name, school email, posts, submissions, grades, file attachments, and audit log entries — nothing else. We don't run analytics, ads, or behavioral trackers. Grades are visible to you and authorized school staff only (FERPA). Direct messages are visible only to the two participants.
Right to access. Avatar menu → Export my data downloads a JSON file with everything we hold about you, including your audit log entries.
Right to erasure. Avatar menu → Delete my account. Type DELETE to confirm. Posts that classmates have replied to get replaced with a "(deleted by user)" tombstone instead of being removed entirely — that preserves thread context. Posts with no replies are hard-deleted. All your other data is removed within 30 days.
Full details: see the Privacy link in the footer.
§18 · Keyboard shortcuts
Press ? any time for the full list. High-traffic ones:
- ⌘K / Ctrl+K — focus search
- n — new post (focuses composer)
- r — reply to focused post
- j / k — next / previous post
- ⌘↵ / Ctrl+↵ — post / send (inside composer or reply)
- Esc — close any open modal or dropdown
- g t — go to thread (vim-style)
- g o — go to teacher overview
§19 · When something breaks
The most common issues:
- "Email not confirmed" — check your inbox or ask your professor to disable confirmation for your class.
- Reset link expired — links last about an hour. Click Forgot your password? again from the sign-in screen.
- Posts not appearing — refresh once. If new posts still don't show, sign out and back in.
- "Rate limit" — you hit the 30-posts-in-60-seconds throttle. Slow down a bit and try again.
- Page looks frozen — refresh. Your work is autosaved.
- Locked out (lost 2FA device) — email your school admin; they can disable 2FA on your account.
For anything else, email privacy@ your school's deployment, or talk to your professor.