Promoting Critical Thinking in an Online Environment
Abstract: With the increasing popularity of online classes in public Universities it is imperative to examine which technologies can improve the quality of online teaching and provide students with a classroom environment that allows them to feel as part of a student community. This paper reports on the findings of a study conducted in two courses. The research questions were: (1) To what extent did the use of the Blog and Discussion Board support online teaching and learning?; (2) Are Blog and Discussion Board effective in making students feel as part of a learning community? And (3) How could the Blog and Discussion Board be effectively used for online teaching and learning? The data collected for the research project consisted of data from students and from the instructor. Statistical analysis and content analysis were used to analyze the data. The results suggest that the use of Blog and Discussion board was effective in supporting student learning and creating a student community.
Presider: Nellie Deutsch, University of Phoenix