Online collaboration and the role of the instructor in two university credit courses

This paper examines the patterns of online interactions among learners and the role of the instructors in two university credit courses, one in Arts and the other in Business Administration. These courses were delivered entirely online in Spring 1997 through Virtual-U, a Web-based environment developed at Simon Fraser University, Canada. Computer conference transcripts were analyzed to identify patterns of interactions among the participants. Separate interviews with the course instructors were carried out to investigate their role in course delivery. The results of the analysis showed a high level of online interactions among students, who benefited from building on each other's ideas in the active conference discussions. The results also indicated increased student responsibility in initiating online discussions. The instructors acted as facilitators throughout the courses and the online teaching experience has influenced their attitudes toward teaching in the traditional face-to-face mode.