A Discussion Platform for Enhancing Students Interaction in the Online Education

Abstract

This paper discusses the implementation of an online discussion as a communication hub for facilitating students interaction in the online learning environment. The rapid transition from in-person to online teaching modality imposed by COVID has raised challenges for both instructors and students. The reduced interaction between students and instructors in the online learning environment was reported to be an obstacle in the online education. The research presented here aimed at utilizing a custom-built discussion tool to promote students interaction in an online asynchronous course and measure its impact on students learning outcomes in the online education. A positive correlation was observed between students’ involvement in the online discussions and their knowledge acquisition during the semester. In addition the factors affecting students participation in the online discussion were examined.