Using Peer Teams to Lead Online Discussions
Journal Article
OPEN
OPEN| Published | 14 March 2002 |
| Journal | Journal of Interactive Media in Education Volume 2002, Issue 1, Pages 1-21 |
| Country | Canada, North America |
ABSTRACT
This study investigated an online course in which groups of four students were used to lead online discussions. The teams were examined for their ability to bring instructional design, discourse facilitation, and direct instruction to the discussions. The setting was a graduate-level communications networks course delivered asynchronously to a cohort group of 17 adults enrolled for professional development education. Interviews, questionnaires, and content analyses of the discussion transcripts indicate that the peer teams fulfilled each of the three roles and valued the experience. Students preferred the peer teams to the instructor as discussion leaders and reported that the discussions were helpful in achieving higher order learning objectives but could have been more challenging and critical.| Keywords | online discussion · computer conferencing · cmc · distance education · discourse facilitation · peer teams · simulation |
| CoI focus | Teaching presence |
| Population | Teacher educators |
| Study design | Interview, Questionnaire |
| Data analysis | Content analysis |
| Contribution | Practical |
| Sample size | 17 student cohort |
| Study aim | "to explore the effectiveness of peer teams as online discussion leaders. Two questions guided the design of the investigation: Could the peer teams fulfill all the responsibilities of an effective online discussion leader? And, was the experience of being part of a discussion-leading team rewarding?" |
| Finding | "The implementation described in this case, in which the instructor maintained a presence even during the weeks in which the peer teams moderated, may be the best method for alleviating the demands on the instructor while simultaneously providing all the elements required for valuable discussion." |
| Language | English |
| ISSN | 1365-893X |
| Refereed | Yes |
| Rights | CC BY |
| DOI | 10.5334/2002-1 |
| URL | http://jime.open.ac.uk/articles/10.5334/2002-1/ |
| Export | BibTex · EndNote · Tagged XML · Google Scholar |
AVAILABLE FILES
Viewed by 0 distinct readers
COMMUNITY NOTES
The evaluations below represent the judgements of our readers and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the CoI editors.
POST A COMMENT
SIMILAR RECORDS
Assessing Teaching Presence in a Computer Conferencing Context
Anderson, Terry; Rourke, Liam; Garrison, D. Randy; Archer, Walter
This paper presents a tool developed for the purpose of assessing teaching presence in online courses that make use of computer conferencing, and preliminary results from the use of this tool. The method of analysis is ...
Match: rourke, liam; anderson, terry; teaching presence; content analysis; cmc; canada
Evaluating Online Discussions: Four Difference Frames of Analysis
Meyer, Katrina
This study uses four different “frames” to analyze 17 online discussions that occurred in two doctoral level classes in educational leadership. Two of the frames were developmental models: King and Kitchener’s ...
Match: discussions; online; content analysis
Online Classroom or Community-in-the-Making? Instructor Conceptualizations and Teaching Presence in International Online Contexts
Morgan, Tannis
The community of inquiry framework (Garrison, Anderson, & Archer, 2000 ) has been an important contribution to the online distance education field and has been useful in providing researchers with the construct of ...
Match: online; teaching presence; distance education; canada
Methodological issues in the content analysis of computer conference transcripts
Rourke, Liam; Anderson, Terry; Garrison, D. R.; Archer, Walter
This paper discusses the potential and the methodological challenges of analyzing computer conference transcripts using quantitative content analysis. The paper is divided into six sections, which discuss: criteria for ...
Match: rourke, liam; anderson, terry; content analysis; canada
Exploring Community College Student Perceptions of Online Learning
Morris, Terry Ann
The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore community college student perceptions of online learning within the theoretical construct of the Community of Inquiry (CoI) model, which describes the manner in which ...
Match: online; teaching presence; distance education
Dual Perspectives on the Contribution of On-Site Facilitators to Teaching Presence in a Blended Learning Environment
de la Varre, Claire; Keane, Julie; Irvin, Matthew J.
This study examines online instructors’ views of on-site facilitators’ practices and activities that help high school students taking online courses. A qualitative analysis of end-of-course interview data with ...
Match: teaching presence; content analysis; distance education
Cognitive Presence in Web-Based Learning: A Content Analysis of Students' Online Discussions
McKlin, Tom; Harmon, S. W.; Evans, William; Jones, M. G.
This first phase of a content analysis of online, asynchronous, educational discussions is designed to generate a method for automatically categorizing messages into cognitive categories using neural network software. ...
Match: discussions; online; content analysis; distance education
Role Adjustment for Learners in an Online Community of Inquiry: Identifying the Challenges of Incoming Online Learners
Cleveland-Innes, Martha; Garrison, D. Randy; Kinsel, Ellen
This study outlines the process of adjustment learners experience when first participating in an online environment. Findings from a pilot study of adjustment to online learning environments validate differences found ...
Match: online; distance education; canada
Critical Inquiry in a Text-Based Environment: Computer Conferencing in Higher Education
Garrison, D. Randy; Anderson, Terry; Archer, Walter
The purpose of this study is to provide conceptual order and a tool for the use of computer-mediated communication (CMC) and computer conferencing in supporting an educational experience. Central to the study introduced ...
Match: anderson, terry; teaching presence; cmc; canada
Critical thinking, cognitive presence, and computer conferencing in distance education
Garrison, D. Randy; Anderson, Terry; Archer, Walter
This article describes a practical approach to judging the nature and quality of critical discourse in a computer conference. A model of a critical community of inquiry frames the research. A core concept in defining a ...
Match: anderson, terry; content analysis; cmc; canada
