Thread by @rebquintana

We compared discussion posts on an open forum (edX), where learners can read responses of others before replying with posts on a locked forum (Coursera), where learners must respond to prompt before being able to view responses of others. #MOOCs @UMichiganAI

We found that posts on an open forum tended to be incomplete, more persuasive in tone, with some showing evidence of reflection. On a locked forum, posts tended to be complete, more assertive in tone, and exhibited a diversity of ideas through responses.

In open forums, learners may use posts to give a complementary perspective and not feel the need to repeat what others have said (thus not directly addressing prompt). Aware of others in the forum, learners use posts to share a reflection or persuade others of their POV.

In locked forums, learners may prioritize task completion and efficiency. Without awareness of posts of others, learners address the prompt in its entirety without concern of repetition. Similarly, learners in locked forums don't feel the need to soften language to engage others.

Our findings have the potential to support #MOOC learning design goals by guiding platform choice and informing activity design. One interesting finding is that a locked forum design fostered a diversity of responses, which would ironically benefit learners in an open forum.

Future work will examine additional cases of discussion posts on open forums. vs. locked forums. Additionally, we are interested in sharing findings with platform providers to encourage features that allow instructors and designers to choose "open" or "locked" forum types.

For more detail, please view our #AERA21 #AERA2021 poster here:

bit.ly/3uzW9w6

Our #AERA21 paper "What we learned when we compared discussion forum posts from one MOOC hosted on two platforms" asks, "Do differences in MOOC discussion forum interfaces qualitatively affect responses and potentially impact learning?" Briefly, yes! @YuanruTan @thejuanpinto

Link to paper is below. Very interested in hearing feedback for next steps. Our study has limitations with respect to our relatively small sample size and uneven distribution of responses across platforms. @hediehn @1sadiaz @bod0ng @sjgknight

drive.google.com/file/d/1ss2hSI…