Online instructors have identified several issues that must be addressed to facilitate better online learning experiences, including authentic experiential education, building community, technology for remote learning, and supporting learners. Online forums are often used by users to express their frustrations, feelings, jokes, and even…

Asynchronous online discussion boards are frequently utilized as a pedagogical tool within traditional, hybrid, and online collegiate courses. Research has found teacher candidates can be disenchanted with the monotonous structure of traditional asynchronous online discussion boards. In educator preparation, we claim to understand teacher…

For three months, Japanese university learners (N=40) utilized the YoTeach! application by Pedagogic and Active Learning Mobile Solutions (PALMS) Project, PolyU as a part of their English discussion class. Researchers re-purposed the application, which originally was designed to be an online classroom backchannel, as an asynchronous, pre-task…

Online learning is one of the fastest growing trends in education. A practical problem faced by instructional designers and online instructors is how to design an interactive learning activity that benefits content mastery without adding technological barriers. The online discussion forum provides quick solutions because it is usually ready for…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the characteristics of online students' cognitive presence in a peer-facilitated discussion environment, and to identify the peer facilitation techniques that can enhance cognitive presence development. In this study, 738 discussion messages were examined by both qualitative and quantitative content…

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…

This study aims to investigate the effects of competition through a digital leaderboard in gamified online discussions on learners' behavioral and cognitive engagement in learning. Twenty-three graduate students pursuing master's degree in instructional technology in a public university in Indonesia were involved in a five-week quasi-experiment (N…

Effective employment of information and communication technology (ICT) in foreign language teaching and learning has become imperative as a means to support second language development when traditional face-to-face instruction and interaction is not possible. Using a design-based research approach and a theoretical framework that integrates…

We examined asynchronous online discussion boards, specifically those that are unmediated by teacher figures, to identify characteristics of these spaces that support or constrain students as they seek help in mathematics. We analyzed 86 questions and 114 associated responses posted to two Khan Academy discussion boards centered around two related…

Asynchronous discussions are a useful instructional resource in the online communication course. In discussion groups students have the opportunity to actively participate and interact with students and the instructor. Asynchronous communication allows for flexibility because "participants can interact with significant amounts of time between…

Asynchronous online discussion forums are increasingly common in blended learning environments but the relationship to student learning outcomes has not been reported for anatomy teaching. Forums were monitored in two multicampus anatomy courses; an introductory first year course and a second year physiotherapy-specific course. The forums are…

This case study explored how Hispanic conservative Wesleyan-Arminian adult students perceived online education, with a specific focus on their perceptions of technological aspects, asynchronous online discussions (AODs), and the effectiveness of online delivery for themselves. The purposive sampling consisted of 16 Hispanic conservative…

This review examines research of computer-mediated small group discussion of literature. The goal of this review is to explore several instructional formats for integrating print-based and new literacies skills. First, the theoretical foundations for the shift from teacher-led to student led discussion are outlined. Research exploring ways in…

This study employed interviews and document analysis to achieve a better understanding of the design and facilitation strategies used by online instructors in a department of educational technology at a large university in the U.S. Some distinctions were found with the literature about what strategies and activities can be used in online…

Critical thinking (CT) is being recognized as an essential skill for students to master in the 21st century. Previous studies have suggested that teaching CT through asynchronous online discussions (AODs) can be one of the effective ways to equip students with such 21st skill in the educational settings. The purpose of this article is to review of…