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Using Peer Teams to Lead Online Discussions
Rourke, Liam and Anderson, Terry

Published14 March 2002
JournalJournal of Interactive Media in Education
Volume 2002, Issue 1, Pages 1-21
CountryCanada, 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 focusTeaching presence
PopulationTeacher educators
Study designInterview, Questionnaire
Data analysisContent analysis
ContributionPractical
Sample size17 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."
LanguageEnglish
ISSN1365-893X
RefereedYes
RightsCC BY
DOI10.5334/2002-1
URLhttp://jime.open.ac.uk/articles/10.5334/2002-1/
ExportBibTex · EndNote · Tagged XML · Google Scholar



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