FlipGrid vs Traditional Discussion Board in a Graduate-Level Course
Abstract: In an online, graduate-level literacy assessment course, student discussion format alternated between traditional discussion board posting and FlipGrid posting. The instructor crafted prompts to take advantage of each of the mediums for learning. To understand the student perspective, an anonymous survey was conducted comparing the formats, using questions drawn from the Community of Inquiry framework survey instrument. Although this was a small sample, the insights gleaned from the students' perspectives about the traditional and video-based discussion postings will help refine the online program. Media richness theory suggests that instructors will select the communication medium to fit the specific task or objective. However, to make those choices, instructors need to understand the full potential of a medium and how the students perceive the medium. Many of the students are part of the supposedly "digital native" generation, yet they often have limited exposure to digital technologies for professional use.