Using online forums to support a community of learning

Online forums provide an opportunity to enhance community building and promote collaborative dialogue that can help increase the flexibility of learning while motivating students to actively participate in their learning. By enabling peer-to-peer interaction, online forums can support the essential elements of a learning conversation by providing scope for multiple perspectives through discussion, dialogue and interaction. The structure of the bulletin boards used in this investigation were carefully considered, and based on cognitive apprenticeship models of learning, whereby learning is scaffolded by peers and experts. In this study, technology is integral and also supportive of the social processes of learning by enabling asynchronous communication. The combination of peersupported teams and tasks designed for self-direction supported the key learning outcomes of collaboration, social responsibility and decision-making with a view to help learners actively engage in learning.