Karl R Lester
A significant proportion of individual
online interaction involves communication. In education this is reflected by
the development of communication systems which support or enhance learning.
Amongst others, Blackmon (2012) and Anderson (2009) have stressed the
importance of discussion forums to the overall educational experience. Rovai
(2007), discussing online learning, concurs, stressing a need for the use of
discussion boards to ‘create a social presence’. It is possible, therefore, to conclude that discussion boards make an
important contribution to the social dimension of learning and development.
This presentation will report the findings
of an action research project which sought to discover alternatives to
traditional, highly structured asynchronous discussion threads commonly found
within VLEs such as Blackboard.
The project set out to explore the
importance of communication in maintaining levels of motivation among
participants on an online course. It focused on the experiences and reflections
of a group of elearning students on the BA (Hons) Business and Management
Top-Up by eLearning programme delivered by Lancashire Business School,
University of Central Lancashire (UCLan). This programme is delivered entirely
online utilising a range of software packages, central to which is Blackboard,
the chosen Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) at UCLan.
The course team had attempted to use VLE
discussion boards to create an online community but this had been largely
unsuccessful. It was observed that the rate of participation within such
discussions correlated with the likelihood of a tangible outcome for the
participant. Very rarely did participants use the discussion boards to create
spontaneous conversation threads. It was decided to carry out trials on
alternative platforms, more closely aligned in nature to social network
platforms, to test their adoption by the student body and evaluate their
capabilities to facilitate communication and the formation of community between
course participants.
This presentation will report on the
results of the research project. A review of the literature which focuses on
online discussion boards and reflections drawn from course participants will be
used to further the discussion around the importance of communication and
motivation in relation to online learning. An alternative perspective of the
use of social media platforms to facilitate organic communication will be
presented as a challenge to the structured discussion threads favoured by many
VLE platforms. Finally, conclusions will be outlined and recommendations for
future research will be presented.
References:
ANDERSEN, M.A., 2009. Asynchronous Discussion Forums: Success Factors,
Outcomes, Assessments, and Limitations. Educational Technology &
Society, 12(1), pp. 249-257.
BLACKMON, S.J., 2012. Outcomes of Chat and Discussion Board Use in
Online Learning: A Research Synthesis. Journal of Educators Online, 9(2),
pp. n2.
ROVAI, A.P. and DOWNEY, J.R., 2010. Why some distance education
programs fail while others succeed in a global environment. The Internet and
Higher Education, 13(3), pp. 141-147.
