Abstract:

Asynchronous discussion forum postings have a long history of use in online courses. But are they the only, or best, way to engage students?

These discussion boards are a flexible means to encourage student engagement in the online classroom. However, does this form of discussion foster student interest, engagement, and analytic thinking? Or is meaningful discourse and building of genuine learning communities sacrificed to convenience of talk-by-text?

We conducted in-depth interviews with online faculty and instructional designers to understand their perceptions of benefits and drawbacks of asynchronous discussion forums including their impact on student engagement and community building.

The ability to formulate a reflective response is a plus of asynchronous discussion boards. Students do not feel pressured to respond immediately, as in a real-time classroom discussion. Real-time facilitators of classroom discussions may be somewhat impatient, not allowing students sufficient time to formulate their responses.

Asynchronous discussion forums should not be a “repository of assignments” like solving a math problem with one correct answer and therefore nothing to “discuss.” Another example of assignment-masquerading-as-discussion is a library activity with mandatory citations. It would work better as an individual assignment than a discussion. Also problematic are lower levels of thought of “ho-hum” discussion forum questions, such as to “describe” something. A creative spark can ignite with an “off the cuff” live class comment in class. Such serendipity is difficult to replicate in asynchronous discussion forums. Some students view discussion participation as a tedious “check-off” item on a weekly to-do list.

How can students communicate meaningfully other than via asynchronous discussions? Grouping students for various activities in addition to discussion forums encourages them to build interactive comfort zones, which also impacts discussion forum interaction. Students can arrange periodic informal meetups to build peer connections. Including audios, videos, and graphics in discussion posts infuses text with engaging content. Interactive crossword puzzles and online debates provide students with creative opportunities to engage.

Robotic activity like repeatedly watching the same TV sitcom episode is what we want to avoid when encouraging our students to engage in online discussions. We should not mandate a cookie-cutter approach to creating discussions in a prescribed repetitive weekly format. It’s better to maximize student interest via creative options. Allowing students to choose a response format (sharing an audio, video, or graphic instead of text) supports varied learning styles. Greater participation informality should be encouraged instead of rigid prescribed word counts. “It doesn’t need to be that formal and complicated.” Loosening the requirements fuels spontaneity that sparks real-time communications and helps replicate it in the online classroom.

Openness to additional ways of engaging student communications while also leveraging the flexibility of the online classroom can yield more meaningful higher-order instructional experiences for students.

Keywords:

Asynchronous online discussions, online student engagement, online course content design.