This systematic review examined research on moderators in asynchronous online discussions (AODs) through a review of 52 sources published over the past four decades. Areas of interest included conceptual frameworks cited in research, publication trends, instructional contexts, research methods and characteristics, and descriptions of the role of…

Many undergraduate and graduate courses have been recently converted to fully remote offerings due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Even within the remote structure, courses vary in their frequency of synchronous and asynchronous meetings. Fostering collaboration through students' idea-sharing and supporting their learning is especially challenging in…

Improving social presence has long been a goal for online instruction; with the shift to emergency remote teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic, the focus on improving social presence has only become more imperative. In asynchronous online courses, social interaction typically relies on discussion groups. Despite this, little research has been…

Restrictions on in-person teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic severely challenged higher education practices worldwide. While didactic delivery of course content is easily achievable with virtual teaching technologies, promoting critical engagement with this material can be more difficult, particularly with classes of larger size and lower…

The importance of making online and distance education successful has been dramatically prioritized due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Student retention is a key performance indicator in online higher education. Evidence suggests that within online distance education the key to retaining students is to encourage an engaging and supportive online…

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of conducting asynchronous online discussion forums on low-achieving EFL students in Taiwan. 124 non-English program students from a technological university participated. Based on a textbook, one to three questions were assigned every other week. An asynchronous learning mode was implemented…

This paper reports on a study that integrated two instant messaging applications (Moya Messenger App and WhatsApp) and a myUnisa's online discussion forum (ODF), and utilised them as tools to support student learning at an open and distance e-learning university in South Africa. The participants in this study were 41 undergraduate education…

Developing an online learning community can help to improve student success. This presents a challenge as the student cohort is often time-limited and shifting in composition before a module starts. The continued evaluation and development of an online preparatory website for the new, year one module S112 -- "Science: concepts and…

Identifying how students can manage the psychological complexity of receiving assessment feedback is important to gain maximum learning and for teachers to facilitate empowering online learning environments. This study discursively explores how a group of students, learning online, psychologically process assessment feedback. Data comprised 29…

The purpose of this study was to examine students' experiences using Facebook as a learning management system during a course. The study participants were 18 junior education faculty students attending a compulsory distance education undergraduate course delivered by the Computer Education and Instructional Technology Department at a university in…

Research addressing the effects of cohort size on student success in asynchronous online discussions is sparse. As such, the following study attempted to determine an optimal student cohort size to enhance success and engagement within online discussions in general education courses at a large post-secondary university consisting of predominately…

The present study investigates the temporal elements affecting asynchronous discussion board messages over a semester, ways in which time is contextualized in space and content, and students' spatio-temporal practices within fixed frames. The theoretical framework uses Lefebvre's rhythm analysis, Bakhtin's chronotope, and…

More and more educational institutions have been moving towards delivering courses and programs at a distance. Although asynchronous online courses overcome the constraints of time, students feel isolated due to the lack of real-time communications. One possible solution to overcome this isolation been suggested that learner's online behavior and…

Discussion Boards are at the heart of an Asynchronous Online Learning or Distance Education Environment and can have a great impact on the learning experience. Understanding the individual factors that create a high quality discussion board experience for students and their interrelationships is critical to continuous improvement in distance…

This study investigated 6 weeks of online asynchronous discussions in a graduate-level course involving eleven students. The research purposes of this study were to identify patterns of collaborative knowledge exploration (CKE) and to suggest new analytical dimensions for investigating online discussions. Based upon a unique theoretical framework…