Share Paper: Designing Asynchronous Online Discussion Environments: A Review of Current Research

  1. Fei Gao, Bowling Green State University, United States
Wednesday, March 7 12:10-12:30 PM Capitol G

Abstract: Asynchronous online discussion environments are important platforms to support learning. This paper reviews current research on designing online discussion environments and identifies four major types of environments that have been developed and researched: constrained environments, visualized environments, anchored environments and combined environments. The paper has implications for developing future asynchronous discussion environments. More specifically, future work should aim at (a) exploring new environments that support varied goals of learning; (b) integrating emerging technologies to address the constraints of current environments; and (c) designing multi-functional environments to facilitate complex learning.