What if you have a new question or comment of your own? In a conventional lecture, you would raise your hand and, when recognized, speak to the class. The electronic equivalent, when you are reading a document in this website, is to create a new discussion thread attached to that document. To do this, click on the "New Discussion Thread" button at the bottom of the page. You will be taken to a page where you can create a new thread of your own.

If you like, go ahead and try opening up a new discussion thread targeted at this page.

Part of the art of asking good questions or of initiating a good discussion is to pick the right document. If the question or comment comes to mind because of something you are reading, the choice is obvious. If a question occurs to you at other times, however, give a little time and thought to the appropriate document. For example, if you have a question about a programming assignment, go to the page describing that assignment and ask it there. If you have a question about course policies and procedures, you should probably seek out the appropriate section of the course syllabus and attach your question there.

Please do not get lazy and simply attach your thread to the Announcements or Topics page simply because this was the first page you came to. Over the course of the semester, anywhere from dozens to hundreds of your fellow students will visit those pages. If they try to read discussions that are not actually relevant to that part of the site, then you have wasted their time, and you may wind up sowing confusion and mis-information. It also reduces your chances of getting a useful response, because those of your fellow students who are working on the same part of the course won't see your post there and because I may have to guess what you are actually talking about.