Why is threading important in the online learning system

Unfortunately, many instructors do not feel they have the skills or expertise to increase interactivity in their courses But, the popularity of threaded discussions as the primary tool of asynchronous interaction within most online course management systems mandates closer exploration of the use of this important pedagogical feature.

Participants included 96 online faculty members from a large distance learning program based in the Midwest. All participants were experienced online instructors and indicated a minimum of one year of online teaching experience, with an average of 3.

Seventeen percent of participants were full-time faculty while the remaining participants were adjunct instructors. For the purposes of this survey, participants were asked to report their attitudes and views concerning undergraduate online education only.

All online classes being taught by participants were offered in an accelerated, 8-week format. No information was collected on age, gender or ethnicity of participants.

Materials and Procedures. Relevant to the purpose of this study, the following questions were selected for inclusion in the analysis:. Individuals electing to respond to the online survey questions were instructed to reply to the email. Responses were not anonymous as per the nature of email interactions.

Upon receipt of email responses, personal identifiers were removed and data was compiled into a coded file. A content analysis was conducted to identify common themes in the data. A content analysis of the open-ended responses revealed three themes in relation to mandatory faculty participation: concerns about university regulation, instructor freedom, and instructional quality.

It should be noted that these frequencies were based on a traditional 7-day, weekly schedule for an 8-week accelerated course. Figure 1. Frequency of reported instructor participation requirements for threaded discussions. An analysis of the open-ended responses found two common trends: importance of instructional quality and concerns about the subjectivity of this type of evaluation.

Requirement of Participation. This sentiment was summarized by one instructor, who stated,. Instructor interaction is obviously a key factor in an effective online learning experience. As such, my opposition to regulation is based not on a theoretical disagreement with the need for instructor participation; rather, it is a philosophical argument about the role of the university in policing and mandating instructional expectations of those they have endorsed and hired as experts to teach the course.

Rather, faculty who were opposed to the university establishing standards of participation believe that university regulations should more broadly address instructional effectiveness, but not evaluate the activities an instructor engages in to meet this higher goal. This concern is particularly problematic as universities attempt to set benchmarks to guide effective online education. The challenge in establishing instructional best practices solely focusing on student learning outcomes is that faculty are not solely responsible for what students learn; and, thus, cannot be evaluated solely on the learning demonstrated by their students.

Faculty evaluation systems are derived from a complex equation balancing instructional best practices with available resources, institutional climate, accreditation expectations and a host of other contributing factors. Central to this issue, faculty evaluation systems are designed to help the university ensure the effectiveness of their faculty. Leaving the option of participation in online discussion threads to the discretion of the instructor exposes institutions to a variety of problems in maintaining and monitoring the academic quality of online courses.

As a consequence, it becomes particularly challenging to ensure continuity of academic and intellectual standards across various sections of a given course, to handle student complaints about absent instructors, and to address differing standards between face-to-face and online courses. A related concern of faculty was that mandating instructor interaction in discussion threads may be seen as infringement upon their freedom to utilize whatever instructional strategies they find most effective.

Reflective of this position, one instructor stated,. For example, if the learning objectives relevant to a targeted threaded discussion are to examine opinions and experiences, then it may not be appropriate for the instructor to play an active role in the discussion. Forcing instructors to participate in discussions, regardless of the instructional value of this interaction, undermines the nature of effective teaching as well as minimizes the value of peer-to-peer learning.

This dialogue does not change in online classrooms. If anything, dialogue, operationalized as active participation in the virtual classroom, becomes more important. Best practices would not dispute that each discipline warrants its own level of interaction based on the content and level of a given course; but this variability challenges the establishment of benchmarks for online instructor interaction. If an instructor is not participating in the threaded discussions, the course becomes a correspondence event rather than an online learning experience.

As such, it is only reasonable that universities provide specific guidance and insight on the expectations for faculty involvement in a course. Although online learning has been active since the early 90s, it is still relatively unfamiliar to most faculty and is undergoing constant transformation as new technologies evolve and more research is conducted on how the online environment affects learning and teaching.

The pace of change in technology requires that structure be in ze: While the target question asked faculty for minimum requirements for threaded discussion participation, many faculty noted that their responses were based on minimum expectations for employment as opposed to maximal instructional effectiveness. As such, some who indicated that the minimum requirements should be for faculty interaction 3 days-per-week also noted that they believed faculty should still be participating and interacting more frequently.

As discussed previously, most faculty stated that frequent interaction was an essential aspect of online course instruction, and that they were simply hesitant to have this aspect of their instruction mandated by a simplified count of the minimal posting requirements or the required number of days of online course participation. Students will not be retained if the online class is conducted merely as a correspondence course; learners want what they would normally have in the face-to-face classroom: interaction between students and instructors.

As such, to promote optimal student learning and retention, it is critical to establish guiding principles that drive best practices in online instructor interaction. Beck and Greive provide online instructors suggestions on how to be successful in online teaching. They stress the need to be an effective communicator via chat, e-mail, discussion participation, feedback on assignments, sharing examples, and instant messaging. While instructor-student communication is important across all these modes of interaction, threaded discussions serve as the primary means of whole-class or group interaction in the online classroom.

The use of threaded discussions provides online instructors a means of engaging groups of students, fostering peer-to-peer interaction and developing a cohesive learning community. The result of this engagement is an enhanced active learning process. Evaluation of Participation. Threaded discussion is a kind of computer-mediated communication CMC.

Specifically, it is an online dialog or conversation that takes the form of a series of linked messages organized topically.

Threaded discussions are text-based and asynchronous; they develop over time as participants separated in time and space read and reply to existing messages. Messages in a given thread share a common topic and are linked to each other in the order of their creation. Threaded discussions are particularly useful in online venues where multiple discussions develop at the same time. Without them, discussion participants would confront a chaotic, unsorted list of messages on many different topics.

By linking responses to messages within a common subject line, threaded discussion makes it easier for participants to focus on one conversation and avoid the distractions of unrelated postings. Threaded discussions are also significantly different from face-to-face discussions. All students have a voice in threaded discussion and no one can dominate the conversation, not even the instructor. Interaction with instructors includes the myriad ways instructors teach, guide, correct, and support learners.

Interaction with classmates refers to interactions among learners, such as through debate, collaboration, discussion, and peer review. In , Hillman, Willis, and Gunawardena noted the importance of a fourth type of interaction, interaction with interface, which they defined as the interaction that takes place between a student and the technology used to mediate distance education processes. Cognitive presence is the extent to which participants are able to construct meaning through sustained communication.

Teachingpresence includes subject matter expertise, the design and management of learning, and the facilitation of active learning. Social presence is the perceived presence of others in mediated communication, which Garrison, et. What Garrison, et. Putting these all together , we have the model of online learning in general, and learning within threaded discussions in particular, shown in Figure 1. The model builds on the Community of Inquiry Model Garrison, et.

It further conceives all of these interactions as mediated through the online interface Hillman, et. In the sections which follow, what we know and what we need to know about threaded discussions will be reviewed through the lenses of each of the subcomponents of this model.

I will do this in a somewhat reverse order beginning with social presence and ending with interface issues , because that is the way research in the field has evolved historically. MLA Swan, Karen. Swan, K. Threaded Discussion. Howard, J. Boettcher, L. Justice, K. Schenk, P. Berg Eds. Disadvantages: Students may begin to rely too heavily on the instructor for one-on-one instruction or for information about assignments and material already available on the course site.

Therefore, it is important to set guidelines for email use within the course syllabus. In addition, set reasonable expectations for when you will respond to emails, for example within hours. Uses: Email can be used for announcements, due dates, schedule changes, modification to an assignment, or to address possible misconceptions. Use private email for feedback on individual assignments and projects, and to answer student questions that are of a personal nature such as a family crisis, a grade concern, or conduct in a discussion forum.

Figure 3. Discussion boards or forums are an asynchronous collaboration tool and a key element in learning management systems. Through discussion boards, the student interacts with the course content, the instructor, and other students. Generally, the instructor posts a topic or thread for discussion, and the student replies to the instructor and responds to other student postings. Postings are archived allowing the professor to track participation and quality of student contributions.

Bender as cited by Repman et al. Students have time to reflect upon and research their responses providing higher quality online discussions. Lapadat as cited by Repman et al. Disadvantages: Some students fail to participate in online discussions.

Grading online discussions can be time consuming and challenging for the online instructor. Also, if guidelines for discussion postings are not clear, student responses may be trivial not furthering the discussion. Guidelines: Encourage participation and set clear guidelines for discussions such as what accounts for quality and quantity.

Include online discussion participation as a percentage of the overall grade. Suggested guidelines to provide the student are below:. Uses: Effective discussion boards are structured content discussions designed to pose insightful questions, inspire curiosity, and incite discomfort. Structured Content Students will contribute to x number of asynchronous discussion topics throughout the semester regarding assigned reading and content.

The instructor will pose the question, and students will respond thoughtfully to the posted questions and to student postings. Additionally, the student will pose questions that enhance the discussion.

Students should be encouraged to answer questions posed by their classmates. The instructor may post answers to questions asked in private emails if they are of general interest to the class. Student Lounge Students can correspond with each other about the course or non-course related subjects. Name the forum and provide a description.

A blog, also known as a web log, is an on-line journal that can be made public or private. Students can use blogs to create an online portfolio, post reflections, turn in projects or assignments and receive feedback from the instructor or other students. Postings are in reverse chronological order making themed discussions easy to follow. Advantages: Blogs provide a dynamic source of information rather than static information found in publications Repman et al.

Blogs promote collaboration and allow the instructor to invite experts, community leaders, and others to review student literary works and projects. Ricardson as cited by Repman et al.