Threaded Discussions a Powerful Asynchronous Online Learning Tool

摘要

This article demonstrates how a threaded discussion is a powerful collaborative learning tool for asynchronous online courses. First let's define what a threaded discussion is and what it is not. Discussion threads are written "discussions" online. Technology Enriched Learning (online) provides this definition: "Threaded Discussion: A form of electronic conferencing which functions like an electronic bulletin board, threaded discussions are electronic messages that are posted, archived, and viewable on a web site. Discussion participants can view both previous and current messages and respond to them in an asynchronous manner (i.e. not in real time)." A threaded discussion is not "chat" or "instant messaging". These are online text-based communications but the difference is they are synchronous (i.e. users are online at the same time) and the message posts are not stored. Effective training often requires collaboration to achieve learning. In particular, the more technical and/or advanced the course, the more it requires collaborative learning methods. This article describes how online threaded discussions achieve learning and collaborative learning in particular.