Development of A Framework for an Asynchronous Discussion Forum through an E-Learning Platform

Throughout the last several decades, the digital era has expanded the process of information sharing in classroom instruction in novel and surprising ways with reference to a wide variety of complex challenges. As a result, effective interactive e-learning management is critical for removing barriers to "knowledge acquisition, exchange, and construction" in this global learning community. According to a review of the pertinent literature, digital and social learning platforms, such as learning management systems (LMS), are effective guides for accomplishing comprehensive online learning. Using a quantitative approach, this paper illustrates the authors’ efforts to develop a social constructivist framework to facilitate formative assessment of an asynchronous discussion forum on various socio-scientific issues (SSI) among teenagers during the initial phase of the project. A learning management system (LMS) was utilised to collect data on project-based activities that encourage inquiry-based and problem-based learning (PBL) following the "Analyze, Design, Development, Implementation, and Evaluation" (ADDIE) model. Different methods of evaluation were implemented to determine the effectiveness of this approach in facilitating the discussions as well as to observe how students' participation in an asynchronous discussion forum improves their overall level of knowledge construction, interaction, and social network analysis (SNA). The important benefits of sharing information are looked at, and future research, innovative projects, and recommendations are shown and predicted

Crowdsourcing Cognitive Presence: A Quantitative Content Analysis of a K12 Educator MOOC Discussion Forum

Massively Open Online Courses (MOOCs) offer participants opportunities to engage with content and discussion forums similar to other online courses. Pedagogical components of MOOCs and the nature of learning are worth of examining due to issues involving scale, interaction and the role of the instructor (Ross, Sinclair, Know, Bayne & McLeod, 2014). The Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework provides a basis for measuring cognitive presence in online discussion forums. As voluntary point of entry to a community of learners, it is important to consider the nature of participant contributions in terms of cognitive presence. This study focused on an educator MOOC because MOOCs have been proposed as an efficient vehicle for providing professional development due to the significant self-identification of participants as educators (Ho et al. 2014). Participant attributes have been categorized, however the discussion forum is difficult to study on a massive scale (Kizilcec, Piech, & Schulz, 2013). Automated measures of cognitive presence may not provide the full view of learning behaviors implicit in messages posted to the forums (Wong, Pursel, Divinsky & Jansen, 2015). To address this gap, the forum messages were hand-coded and analyzed using quantitative content analysis (Neuendorf, 2002). The study found that the measure of exploration increased over the duration of the course. Viewing cognitive presence over time provided a new metaphor for explaining the proportions of cognitive presence in the discussion forum of an educator MOOC. This finding suggests that increased instructor presence during the later stages of the course may increase cognitive presence over time (Akyol & Garrison, 2007; Garrison & Cleveland-Innes, 2005)

Teacher Education Futures: Developing learning and teaching in ITE across the UK

A selection of papers from the Teacher Education Futures conference 2006

Achieving better peer interaction in online discussion forums: A reflective practitioner case study

This paper documents the initial phase of a research project to improve peer interaction in a discussion forum for a Spatial Sciences class (unit) at Curtin University. A number of strategies were implemented to redress the low levels of online participation prevailing for a number of years. Three research questions were formulated to evaluate the effectiveness of teaching and learning initiatives. The analysed statistical data for this unit obtained from Blackboard revealed positive correlations between students’ results and their participation in the discussions forum, which was supported by students’ comments on the forum. The statistical measures used offered a way of ensuring a more objective evaluation of the effectiveness of the changes, with evidence of promising improvements in participation levels. The initiatives of offering incentives to participate in the discussion forum and creating a positive community environment appear to have marginally increased levels of achievement

The Transition To Blended Learning: Students’ Perceptions Of Online Interaction

This thesis investigates the problem of low student interest and interaction in online synchronous and asynchronous activity during a transitional phase to blended learning. The key research question investigated how students’ experience of blended learning might inform practice, in order to improve students’ participation in online interaction. The participants were a self-selected sample of 581 students aged 19 to 73 years and predominately woman students. This sample was obtained from 13 regions of The Open University across the UK from students who had studied two undergraduate psychology modules at The Open University during the transition in 2012 to a blended learning tuition strategy. A mixed-methods case study design was employed, composed of an adapted version the Course Experience Questionnaire originally designed by Ramsden (1991). This instrument consisted of 37 questions exploring students’ perceptions of the introduction of blended learning into their respective modules, further modified with the addition of a ‘tick-box’ media survey and an expandable window for students to offer open comments on their experience. Factor analysis was applied to the two sets of quantitative data and thematic analysis to the qualitative data set, employing a convergent design. The findings from the three data sets complemented each other to represent the students’ perspectives on blended learning which served to reveal areas of students’ learning and interaction that did not comfortably align with theoretical ideas and expectations regarding blended learning provision, suggesting a social constructivist theoretical explanation to account for this disjuncture. The findings draw attention to the pedagogy and design of blended learning that remain relevant in practice today. Enhancing the performance of curriculum design and delivery is suggested in order to further develop the blended learning experience of students. It is recommended that some reconceptualisation of the tutors’ role should be considered. Further qualitative research to coalesce feedback from module designers, tutors and students on blended learning modules is also recommended

Learning English as a Foreign Language in a Blended Mode of Face-to-face and Online Discussions: A Case Study in a University in Taiwan

Learning English as a Foreign Language in a Blended Mode of Face-to-face and Online Discussions: A Case Study in a University in Taiwan Previous studies have documented many beneficial results arising from integrating online discussion with face-to-face instruction for language learning, yet the interactive process of students within both formal and informal contexts remains to be explored. This research examined the dynamics of student learning in blended face-to-face and online discussions in and after class in the context of learning English as a foreign language (EFL) in a university in Taiwan. An embedded case study was applied with a mixed-methods approach to investigate how students jointly accomplished tasks, and how this blended approach had contributed to their English learning. The data collected include the qualitative data of observations on three groups of 14 participants, three focus groups with 11 participants, 72 online discussion logs of the three groups and the quantitative data of 45 questionnaire responses. The findings revealed that students learned primarily through mediation of L1 and L2, through collaborative interaction, through co-construction of meaning, and from teacher and peer scaffolds. Students tended to provide information and suggestions in face-to-face discussions by using L1, but they expressed thoughts, gave comments and probed questions in online discussions by using L2. Students changed their interactive patterns from passive to active by mutually assisting each other in accomplishing tasks. Data also showed that students recognised that blended discussions had contributed to their cognitive, language, interactional and affective gains. Blended discussions were perceived as learner-centred undertakings that increased participation, collaboration and engagement. Four key factors were observed to have affected learning in this blended instruction. The research concludes that blended discussions changed the conventional EFL classroom culture and had a positive influence on student learning in terms of interaction, processes of meaning construction and perceptions. Keywords Online Discussion, Computer-Mediated Communication, Computer-Assisted Language Learning, Blended Learning, Collaborative interaction, Co-construction of Meanin

A Case Study of High School Chinese as a Foreign Language Blended Program

This qualitative case study investigated a Chinese as a foreign language program composed of three different instructional modes: synchronous instruction with videoconferencing technology, asynchronous instruction with online tutorials, and physically co-located face-to-face instruction. The study adopted Larry Cuban's multi-layered curriculum framework and investigated the four curriculum layers within the blended program: intended curriculum, taught curriculum, learned curriculum, and tested curriculum. This research utilized interviews, observation, and document analysis as the instruments in data collection. The participants consisted of one administrator, eight language teachers, four facilitators and twelve high school students. In addition to teaching site observation, the researcher also traveled to four remote school sites to observe how the curriculum was learned from the students' perspective. The results of the study indicated that although the intended curriculum reveals the administrator's ideal picture of blended learning design and defines what teachers should teach and what students should learn in each instructional delivery mode, the actual implementation process of blended learning is much more complex. The findings of the study showed that language teachers' specific operation of the daily lessons in a blended context and students' actual learning experiences at the remote sites can be influenced by many other variables; these variables lead the intended curriculum into different versions between the classes of the taught curriculum, learned curriculum and tested curriculum. Therefore, technology integration should not only be focused on the design of the external layer of the curriculum (the intended curriculum), but should also be focused on the implementation through the rest of the curriculum layers

A Case Study of High School Chinese as a Foreign Language Blended Program

This qualitative case study investigated a Chinese as a foreign language program composed of three different instructional modes: synchronous instruction with videoconferencing technology, asynchronous instruction with online tutorials, and physically co-located face-to-face instruction. The study adopted Larry Cuban's multi-layered curriculum framework and investigated the four curriculum layers within the blended program: intended curriculum, taught curriculum, learned curriculum, and tested curriculum. This research utilized interviews, observation, and document analysis as the instruments in data collection. The participants consisted of one administrator, eight language teachers, four facilitators and twelve high school students. In addition to teaching site observation, the researcher also traveled to four remote school sites to observe how the curriculum was learned from the students' perspective. The results of the study indicated that although the intended curriculum reveals the administrator's ideal picture of blended learning design and defines what teachers should teach and what students should learn in each instructional delivery mode, the actual implementation process of blended learning is much more complex. The findings of the study showed that language teachers' specific operation of the daily lessons in a blended context and students' actual learning experiences at the remote sites can be influenced by many other variables; these variables lead the intended curriculum into different versions between the classes of the taught curriculum, learned curriculum and tested curriculum. Therefore, technology integration should not only be focused on the design of the external layer of the curriculum (the intended curriculum), but should also be focused on the implementation through the rest of the curriculum layers