Conclusion

Nystrand, Gamoran, and Heck (1993) discuss instructional coherence as a necessary component of group activities in the English language arts classroom. Coherence allows students to connect what they know with what they don’t know and come to understanding. “Rather than requiring students merely to remember someone else’s ideas, coherent classroom talk helps students develop a train of thought. In short, it promotes active production and not merely the recitation of knowledge.” Students engage in the production of knowledge about the text rather than simply observing the intellectual process or product. Threaded discussion groups allow teachers to extend their classrooms into cyberspace. Students who participate in threaded discussion may benefit because the format buys them time to think, provides appropriate models, and increases the coherence of the discourse. Guthrie and Wigfield (2000) cite a range of instructional processes that influence reading motivation. Threaded discussion can has the potential to address many of these factors. While substantial additional research must be done, the threaded discussion group seems a powerful mediating tool that can broaden the teacher’s influence within groups while giving students additional autonomy for knowledge production (Sherry, 2000).

Article main page Why might face-to-face discussions fail? What is a threaded discussion group? How is a threaded discussion group set up? A sample from a threaded discussion What if my students don’t have access to the Internet? What are some considerations for teachers? Conclusion Join and try out a threaded discussion group References

From Wolsey, T.D. (2004, January/February). Literature discussion in cyberspace: Young adolescents using threaded discussion groups to talk about books. Reading Online, 7(4). Available: http://www.readingonline.org/articles/art_index.asp?HREF=wolsey/index.html

Reading Online, www.readingonline.org
Posted January 2004
© 2004 International Reading Association, Inc.   ISSN 1096-1232