A case study describing online discussion in a tenth-grade biotechnology class

The purpose of this study is to examine the online discussion between high school students at different physical locations. Little is really known about the use of Internet technologies for teaching and learning in the K–12 school environment. Previous research has tended to focus mainly on university students and this research has attempted to compare traditional courses to those using Internet technologies to determine which was “best.” Such designs fail to consider the many variables that work together to create an effective learning experience.; Vygotsky (1978) argues that students will achieve a higher level of development through interaction with more capable peers. Unfortunately, most instructors do not provide learning environments in which student discussion is implemented with any regularity. Additionally, in-class discussion can be also limited by the amount of content to be covered, the number of students enrolled, the time limitations of the schedule, and the willingness of students to talk in public. It has been proposed that electronic discussion groups can provide an effective, alternative avenue for fostering class discussion. Using technology to extend the classroom in this way may create a shared space among learning participants and lead to higher order cognitive processing. This case study investigates this aspect of the learning environment for 10th grade Biotechnology students in the Blue Ridge Virtual Governor's School.; The investigator uses the work of Henri (1992) and others to conduct a content analysis of the discussion. This analysis includes recording the number of messages—total; recording the number of messages per student in the group; mapping the conversation by drawing lines between student numbers to indicate the flow of discussion; and chunking content into thinking activities—such as ‘asking a clarifying question’; ‘providing clarifying information that was not previously within the conversation’, etc.; While laboratory research can be valuable, research in the field (individual classrooms and schools) can often be more useful, particularly in helping understand educational environments and the effects of curriculum and instruction. This research study provides a detailed description of this case and the scenario of the online discussion.