What is Online Discussion? Essay -- Technology, Communication

Many benefits of online discussion have been recorded in the literature. For example, participation in an asynchronous online discussion is time and place independent (Morse, 2003: Williams etal., 2001). Participants who involved online discussion can contribute whenever they have a useful input and wherever they are as long as they have access to a network based computer. Williams (2002, p. 266) explained the freedom from temporal and geographical constraints international students have â€Å"flexibility in the time, place and pace of communication† with others. In contrast, the traditional face-to-face discussion does not have this flexibility. Online discussion allows students taking time to think about the messages they receive from their peers as well as what they postings. After a long time practice they can send without the pressure as an immediate responder (Biesenbach & Lucas, 2003). Therefore, online discussion is also defined as "a powerful tool for the development of critical thinking, collaboration, and reflection" (Williams et al., 2001, p. 151). Online discussions are deeply engaged and benefits the diverse students compared with traditional classroom discussions (Crevener, 1999, cited in Pinch & Graves, 2000). Students tend to participate more as they are aware that their participation is being monitored and recorded (Tullar et al., 1998). Online discussion within small groups or learning sets also affords a growing sense of community and a feeling among students that they can get to know each other through this medium (Curtin, 2002, cited in Lewin & Jerram, 2003; Hammond, 2000). Another major benefit of online discussion relates to the fact that in the traditional classroom situation, a few students often domi... ...e way it is used by instructors and students and how it is contribute to the course work (Elgort et al., 2003; McKinlay, 1999, cited in Biesenbach-Lucas, 2003; Weasenforth et al., 2002). The length of the discussion, the number of postings required, the size of any one contribution, the role of the instructor, the students' technical preparedness and so on, need to be carefully considered. Otherwise, the discussion may consist of contributions that are not strongly interactive and the students may simply "play the game" of assessment whereby they make postings that earn marks but do not really contribute to the development of the conversation (Oliver & Shaw, 2003, p. 56). Therefore, some authors offer tips for designing and running a good discussion in a networked environment based on their experiences (Hawisher & Pemberton, 1997; Kimball, 1995; Sullivan, 2002).