ERIC Number: EJ1084481
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2014
Pages: 20
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-2165-3151
EISSN: N/A
Web Annotation and Threaded Forum: How Did Learners Use the Two Environments in an Online Discussion?
Sun, Yanyan; Gao, Fei
Journal of Information Technology Education: Innovations in Practice, v13 p69-88 2014
Web annotation is a Web 2.0 technology that allows learners to work collaboratively on web pages or electronic documents. This study explored the use of Web annotation as an online discussion tool by comparing it to a traditional threaded discussion forum. Ten graduate students participated in the study. Participants had access to both a Web annotation tool and a threaded forum when having discussion on a given topic and were free to use either tool or both to post their comments. A case study method was adopted. The analysis of participant posts and participant survey responses showed that both the threaded forum and the Web annotation tool successfully supported interactions and knowledge construction during the online discussion. The Web annotation tool had advantages in locating specific information on the websites and making content-specific discussions, and the discussion forum was more suitable for posting summarized comments. While participants were more likely to offer alternative or complementary views in the discussion forum, self-reflection was the major type of knowledge construction behavior when participants used the Web annotation tool.
Descriptors: Web 2.0 Technologies, Notetaking, Electronic Publishing, Collaborative Writing, Group Discussion, Computer Mediated Communication, Graduate Students, Case Studies, Information Seeking, Information Retrieval, Cooperative Learning, Constructivism (Learning), Educational Technology, Majors (Students), Usability, Likert Scales, Surveys
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research; Tests/Questionnaires
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A