The Effect of Anchoring Online Discussion on Collaboration and Cognitive Load

Online discussions provide an opportunity for collaborative construction of meaning through peer to peer dialogue. The aim of this study is to develop an understanding of cognitive load as a factor supporting or inhibiting students’ participation in online asynchronous discussions. We employ cognitive load theory as a theoretical perspective, applying it not only to participants’ cognitive load but also to their collaboration load. Through an experimental study, we confirm that anchoring discussion leads to more task-oriented communication and less need for social and planning comments, which leaves more time and effort for the creation of elaboration and evaluation of ideas. Furthermore, anchoring discussion leads to more efficient communication as it reduces cognitive load involved in correctly interpreting messages

Instructor versus Peer Attention Guidance in Online Learning Conversations

This paper reports a theory-driven experimental study for designing and evaluating two different forms of attention-guidance functionalities integrated into an anchored-discussion system. Using social constructivism as a motivating theory, we constructed a theoretical framework that emphasizes the importance of students’ attention allocation in online learning conversations and its influence on message quality and interaction patterns. The development of the functionalities, named faded instructor-led and peer-oriented attention guidance, aimed to direct students’ attention toward instructional materials’ central domain principles while offering them an open learning environment in which they could choose their own topics and express their own ideas. We evaluated the functionalities with heat map analysis, repeated measures general linear model analysis, and sequence analysis to assess the utility of the developed functionalities. Results show that attention guidance helped students more properly allocate their attention in online learning conversations. Furthermore, we found that the improved attention allocation led to better quality of students’ online learning conversations. We discuss implications for researchers and practitioners who wish to promote more fruitful online discussions

Anchored Asynchronous Online Discussions: Supporting Learning Conceptions

Online discussions show promise for improving students’ learning. We conducted two case studies to explore the potential benefits of using anchoring in asynchronous online discussions. We compared anchored asynchronous online discussions (AAODs) with standard asynchronous online discussions (AODs) on students’ experience and learning in a blended environment. Qualitative data were obtained from students based on a “take-home” essay. The students’ answers were coded and analyzed for differences using open, axial, and selective methods. We found that AAODs were more likely to be perceived as helping improve understanding, problem solving, comprehension, and social learning. AAOD students reported more enjoyable and positive experiences with AAODs. Overall, a significantly higher number of AAOD undergraduate students stated that they would like to use online discussions in future courses. The implications for this study are notable for theory and practice. AAODs can increase sharing of ideas, perspectives, and support learning conceptions

Using a Word-Space Model to Determine the Relevance of Messages in Anchored Asynchronous Online Discussions

PACLIC / The University of the Philippines Visayas Cebu College Cebu City, Philippines / November 20-22, 200

Designing Asynchronous Online Discussion Environments: Recent Progress and Possible Future Directions

Asynchronous online discussion environments are important platforms to support learning. Research suggests, however, threaded forums, one of the most popular asynchronous discussion environments, do not often foster productive online discussions naturally. This paper explores how certain properties of threaded forums have affected or constrained the quality of discussions, and argues that developing alternative discussion environments is highly needed to offer better support for asynchronous online communication. Using the Productive Discussion Model developed by Gao, Wang & Sun (2009), we analyzed current work on four types of asynchronous discussion environments that have been developed and researched: constrained environments, visualized environments, anchored environments and combined environments. The paper has implications for developing future asynchronous discussion environments. More specifically, future work should aim at (a) exploring new environments that support varied goals of learning; (b) integrating emerging technologies to address the constraints of current environments; (c) designing multi-functional environments to facilitate complex learning, and (d) developing appropriate instructional activities and strategies for these environments

'mat': A new media annotation tool with an interactive learning cycle for application in tertiary education

This paper provides an overview of the design process of a new online media annotation tool. This work-in-progress report will step through some design decisions as aided by reviewing learning theory and related experiences outlined in the literature; design principles from a user interface perspective; and user testing of the first design iteration. The first of a three stage development of the media annotation tool, 'mat' (MAT), is designed for learning from video, with later stages enabling other media (audio, image, other) plus assignment building with media inserts. User testing reinforced several design decisions plus initiated some change

Effects of E‐textbook Instructor Annotations on Learner Performance

With additional features and increasing cost advantages, e-textbooks are becoming a viable alternative to paper textbooks. One important feature offered by enhanced e-textbooks (e-textbooks with interactive functionality) is the ability for instructors to annotate passages with additional insights. This paper describes a pilot study that examines the effects of instructor e-textbook annotations on student learning as measured by multiple-choice and open-ended test items. Fifty-two college students in a business course were randomly assigned either a paper or an electronic version of a textbook chapter. Results show that the e-textbook group outperformed the paper textbook group on the open-ended test item, while both groups performed equally on the multiple-choice subject test. These results suggest that the instructional affordances that an interactive e-textbook provides may lead to higher-level learning

The Affordances of Social Annotation in the Online Writing Classroom: A Community of Inquiry Analysis

Social annotation (SA) is a genre of web-based applications that allow users to annotate texts and to see and respond to annotations others have written. To explore the potential of SA for teaching writing online, findings from twelve empirical studies of SA in education were analyzed through the lens of the Community of Inquiry framework. Results indicate that SA can contribute to cognitive presence, social presence, and teaching presence in online writing instruction. SA supports collaborative understanding and unpacking of texts. Students can identify and discuss main ideas, claims, rhetorical moves, evidence, etc. They can ask and answer questions. The demands of articulating their views and comparing them to those of others cause students to become aware of their thought processes, a metacognitive development. Pedagogical strategies such as highlighting important concepts and seeding expert annotations can focus attention and scaffold learning. SA can promote the development of community as students collaborate and encourage one another. Teachers can plan and monitor SA activities aligned with learning outcomes. The findings provide insights to guide incorporation of SA in online writing instruction

Knowledge Sharing Motivations, Perceived Enjoyment, and Anchoring Effects on Perceived Usefulness of Asynchronous Online Discussions

In this document we examine the effects of knowledge sharing motivations in terms of reputation and expected relationships, perceived enjoyment, and anchoring on perceived usefulness of asynchronous online discussions. Our main aim for conducting this study is to develop a deeper understanding of the dynamics of students’ interactions in online discussions. This study provides added insights to help explain students’ motivations for their participation in the online discussions. A more effective implementation and use of asynchronous online discussions can aid our efforts towards making improvements in a problematic process related to students’ poor performance. In previous years, students exhibited low interest, effort, enthusiasm, and engagement, which contributed to their poor performance in a business statistics course. We employed asynchronous online discussions to increase the interaction and engagement of the student. We also examined the effect of anchoring in the online discussion on students’ exam performance. We propose two research models that help explain the dynamics and effects on perceived usefulness and exam performance. We found sufficient evidence to support the research hypotheses