OMDE 603 Section 9020

Gail Wingate
June 12, 2013
Assignment 1: Does Moodle Help Facilitate Student Participation in Asynchronous
Discussion Boards?

Purveyors of Distance Education (DE) have ardently adopted discussion boards, also
known as online discussions or discussion forums, to immerse students in class-wide
investigations of course content (Peters & Hewitt, 2010, p. 951). In DE, students often use
discussion boards asynchronously, which are accessible anytime on the web, to respond to
questions or comments in a group discussion; thus participating in social interaction that enables
the student to gain a deeper understanding of the topic in question. Studies show, however, that
obtaining relevant participation from all of the students is a major challenge (Blackmon, 2012;
Peters & Hewitt, 2010; Siew Woei, Ah Choo, & Cho Chuan, 2010).

Discussion Board Advantages

Theories of DE such as Moores theory of Transactional Distance (Moore & Kearsley,

2012) and Garrison, Anderson, and Archers Community of Inquiry (2000) theory stress the
importance of interaction among students, and between students and the teacher. These
interactions allow students to analyze and discuss concepts together thus enhancing the course
content and allowing students to virtually apply their knowledge (Blackmon, 2012). Further,
asynchronous discussion boards enable students to join the discussion after taking time to
research, formulate, and articulate their thoughts.

Blackmon (2012) and Siew Woei, Ah Choo, and Cho Chuan (2010) provide compelling
reasons why asynchronous discussion boards are so critical to DE, such as:

OMDE 603 Section 9020

Gail Wingate
June 12, 2013
Assignment 1: Does Moodle Help Facilitate Student Participation in Asynchronous
Discussion Boards?

Students enhance their critical thinking skills when they take the time to research
and analyze a topic.

Students deepen their understanding of the topic by articulating and sharing

thoughts and ideas.

Students improve their writing skills when they articulate their thoughts using
proper grammar and a high level of lexis.

Student apply their knowledge in a practical setting by discussing and sharing

ideas.

Students improve their overall course performance by actively participating.

The Problem of Participation

The major challenge teachers face when using discussion boards to enhance course
content is getting students to actively participate and provide relevant comments (Blackmon,
2012). For example, some students provide comments while others lurk around the forum (Siew
Woei et al., 2010). Or, sometimes students provide deep, thoughtful responses while at other
times provide trivial, feel-good responses that while nice, are not useful to the discussion.
Examples of the two categories of reasons why students limit their participation are as follows:

Instructional Factors

Students will resist posting comments if they are unfamiliar with the software
(Blackmon, 2012).
2

OMDE 603 Section 9020

Gail Wingate
June 12, 2013
Assignment 1: Does Moodle Help Facilitate Student Participation in Asynchronous
Discussion Boards?

Students would be more comfortable posting comments if they knew more about
the other students (Blackmon, 2012).

Students are uncomfortable commenting when they cannot see the expression or
hear the tone of other students (Blackmon, 2012).

Students will post more comments when another student is facilitating the
discussion instead of the instructor (Blackmon, 2012).

Students cannot choose a discussion in which to participate if they find the

messages too lengthy or overwhelming (Peters & Hewitt, 2010).

Non-Instructional Factors

Students are not rewarded or graded for their efforts.

Students are put off by other students online behavior.

Students have nothing else to add to the conversation.

Students see that other students have already posted their answer.

Students are inherently shy thus reluctant to post their thoughts publically (Peters
& Hewitt, 2010).

To address the non-instructional factors, the instructor must provide detailed instructions
for participating in the forums, and monitor the discussions. For example, the instructor can
provide rules of etiquette that explain to the students how to communicate effectively and
objectively to avoid offending other participants.

OMDE 603 Section 9020

Gail Wingate
June 12, 2013
Assignment 1: Does Moodle Help Facilitate Student Participation in Asynchronous
Discussion Boards?

Discussion board technology in conjunction with instructor support can address the
instructional factors as discussed in the following section.

Can Moodle Help?

There are many different versions of discussion board technology, referred to as

computer mediated communication (CMC). Typically, CMCs are part of a software technology
called Learning Management Systems (LMS) used to manage courses and users, share content,
allow for communication between users, and more. Of the most common LMS software studies
show that students prefer Moodle because of its easy to use interface and extensive forum
support (Aydin & Tirkes, 2010; Carvalho, Areal, & Silva, 2011; King-Sing, Yuet-Ching, &
Fung-King, 2009).

Some of the Moodle functionality that addresses the instructional factors hindering
students participation in discussion forums are described in Table 1.

Table 1

Moodle Functionality Addresses Instructional Factors

Instructional Factor
Students will resist posting comments if
they are unfamiliar with the software.

Moodle Functionality
Students will find it easier to learn Moodle
because of its easy to use interface.
Students say Moodle has a better
interface, easy to access course
materials, and fun design and good
4

OMDE 603 Section 9020

Gail Wingate
June 12, 2013
Assignment 1: Does Moodle Help Facilitate Student Participation in Asynchronous
Discussion Boards?

navigation (Beatty, 2006, p. 42).

Students to create personal profiles which
are made available to other students in the
course (Aydin & Tirkes, 2010). Also,
instructors can create small groups for
collaborative online learning (King-Sing et
al., 2009).
Students are uncomfortable commenting
Students can utilize video conferencing and
when they cannot see the expression or
online chat to feel more comfortable
hear the tone of the other students.
(Aydin & Tirkes, 2010).
Students tend to post more comments when Instructors can change student roles to
another student is facilitating the discussion promote knowledge creation, sharing and
instead of the instructor.
exchange (King-Sing et al., 2009, p.112).
Thus, students are not merely relying on
the transfer of knowledge from teachers,
but are encouraged to actively participate in
the learning progress (King-Sing et al.,
2009, p. 112).
Students cannot choose a discussion in
Students can view forums by topic, date,
which to participate if they find the
thread, and author (King-Sing et al., 2009).
messages too lengthy or overwhelming.
Students can also collaborate via groups
thus limiting the number of messages to be
read (King-Sing et al., 2009).
Students would be more comfortable
posting comments or responses if they
knew more about the other students.

Conclusion

DE theorists consider information exchange and discussion among students, and between
students and the instructor to be critical learning features of DE when students actively and
relevantly participate. Discussion forums are the conduit between the student and their ultimate
ability to practically apply their knowledge. Moodle is a CMC tool that offers a popular
implementation of a discussion forum that promotes active, relevant student participation.

References

OMDE 603 Section 9020

Gail Wingate
June 12, 2013
Assignment 1: Does Moodle Help Facilitate Student Participation in Asynchronous
Discussion Boards?

Aydin, C., & Tirkes, G. (2010). Open source learning management systems in distance learning.
Turkish Online Journal of Educational Technology, 9(2), 175-184. Retrieved from
http://www.tojet.net/

Beatty, B. (2006). Faculty perspectives on moving from blackboard to the Moodle Learning
Management System. Techtrends: Linking Research & Practice To Improve Learning,
50(4), 36-45. doi: 10.1007/s11528-006-0036-y

Blackmon, S.J. (2012). Outcomes of chat and discussion board use in online learning: A research
synthesis. Journal of Educators Online, 9(2). Retrieved from http://thejeo.com/

Carvalho, A., Areal, N., & Silva, J. (2011). Students perceptions of Blackboard and Moodle in a
Portuguese university. British Journal of Educational Technology, 42(5), 824-841. doi:
10.1111/j.1467-8535.2010.01097.x

Garrison, D. R., Anderson, T., & Archer, W. (2000). Critical inquiry in a text-based
environment: Computer conferencing in higher education. The Internet and Higher
Education, 2(2-3), 87-105. Retrieved from
http://communitiesofinquiry.com/sites/communityofinquiry.com/files/Critical_Inquiry_m
odel.pdf

King-Sing, C., Yuet-Ching, L., & Fung-King, Y. (2009). A review on functional features of elearning platforms in the continuing education context. International Journal of

OMDE 603 Section 9020

Gail Wingate
June 12, 2013
Assignment 1: Does Moodle Help Facilitate Student Participation in Asynchronous
Discussion Boards?

Continuing Education & Lifelong Learning, 2(1), 103-116. Retrieved from

http://research.hkuspace.hku.hk/journal/ijcell/
Moore, M. G., & Kearsley, G. (2012). Distance education: A systems view of online learning (3rd
ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.

Peters, V.L., & Hewitt, J. (2010). An investigation of student practices in asynchronous

computer conferencing courses. Computers & Education, 54, 951-961.
doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2009.09.030

Siew Woei, L., Ah Choo, K., & Cho Chuan, O. (2010). The reasons for encouraging or inhibiting
students' active participation in asynchronous online discussion: Three cases from
Malaysia. International Journal of Interdisciplinary Social Sciences, 5(1), 421-430.
Retrieved from http://www.thesocialsciences.com/