Discussion forum coordination support in distance courses

Abstract

This work presents a piece of action research which investigates tools that provide coordination support to mediators and learners in discussion forums in a distance course. In an asynchronous environment such as the forums, participants must check the Learning Management System (LMS) regularly to follow the unfolding of the discussion and the activities of other participants. Without such information, learners and mediators do not coordinate their activities according to the group’s progress and miss chances to communicate synchronously. The tools investigated aim at keeping learners and mediators informed of what happens in the forum without the need to connect to the learning environment’s desktop web interface.

Keywords: discussion forum coordination, notifi cation, interaction analysis, m-learning, action research, awareness.