Volume 7
Volume 7, Number 89 |
July 31, 2009 |
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Paula San Millan Maurino
Francine Federman
Lorraine Greenwald
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Abstract: This paper describes the partial findings of a dissertation on distance education based on a case study at Farmingdale State College in New York. The study, Online Threaded Discussions: Purposes, Goals and Objectives, analyzed interaction from the standpoint of the instructor. Interviews were held with faculty and triangulated with analysis of “starter” discussion questions, database transcripts, and focus groups. One of the important findings of the study was that there was a major difference between online technical and non-technical classes. Technical courses in any discipline were seen as different. These differences affected the purposes, goals and objectives set by instructors for their threaded discussions. The differences also necessitated a different form of interaction. These findings can be used to develop best practices for technical instructors in a virtual classroom and members of the systems education community.
Keywords: distance education, technical courses, systems educators, interaction, online threaded discussions
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Recommended Citation: Maurino, Federman, and Greenwald (2009). Technical Classes Online: A Different Breed of Learning? Information Systems Education Journal, 7 (89). http://isedj.org/7/89/. ISSN: 1545-679X. (A preliminary version appears in The Proceedings of ISECON 2007: §2323. ISSN: 1542-7382.)