I allow students to comment because this can be useful for gathering feedback and inspiring class discussion; however, giving students the ability to post can be troublesome. Despite their experience with Google Classroom, students have a less than perfect understanding of how the platform works. For example, previously, I left the post option enabled, and a student posted a question for me about his work on a specific assignment. The whole class could see his comment. While the student's post was neither personal nor private, the fact that he posted a question to me in the class feed rather than in a private comment showed me that he didn't understand how to use the post feature. Since that experience, I have disabled posting for students. They may comment only. Plus, whenever I want students to comment/reply to comments on the class page, I remind them that everyone will be able to see what they write. This reminder helps students to keep their comments relevant and useful.
