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quality of interaction in online discussions, rather than quantity, may be the better predictor of student achievement

Interrogating the structure of learning management systems such as Blackboard brings to light the unnoticed ways in which the software frames online classroom interaction

Rose (2004) argued in her critique of learning management systems that the mediated tools instructors use to teach their classes are not value–free. The author lamented that “there is no acknowledgment of the fundamental transformations that must be wreaked upon content imported into platforms such as WebCT and Blackboard, nor of the fact that the very structure of these systems constrains instructional possibilities and decision–making.” [4] Like a highly bureaucratic organization, once a structure is built into a learning management system, changing the structure becomes unimaginable (Sandvig, 2006).

Online class discussions typically involve more student–student interaction and less instructor–student interaction. Lobel, et al. (2005) found that instructors were the center of the interaction network during in person discussions whereas the group was the center during online discussions. Blackboard’s discussion feature allows students to interact directly with each other, bypassing the instructor. However, the degree of structural flexibility in a Blackboard discussion board resides to a large extent in the decisions the instructor makes. May students attach files? May students start new discussion threads? May students post anonymously? Do they rate each other’s messages? What is the rating system?

What has changed is the instructor’s increased ability to track students’ use of the class Web site: number of messages posted, number of messages read, and how many times various pages or sections are accessed. Mullen (2002) argued that this type of information seems to provide an objective measure of student engagement, but in fact creates a dangerously decontextualized, essentialized image of a class in which levels of “participation” stand in for evidence of learning having taken place. Students are treated not as learners, as partners in an educational enterprise, but as users

“The brave new world of digital education promises greater access, increased democratic participation, and the transcendence of discrimination through pure minds. We must interrogate the actuality of these hypes: who has access, is participation online transformative, and is transcendence of difference a goal of progressive pedagogies?” [8]

Things take longer to happen than you think they will and then they happen faster than you think they could.

ver the next few years the quality will improve.

A teacher in the future will become more like a mentor. The model of on campus education will be more about mentorship and guidance with research as an important factor."

"It's important to remember that we're not so good at understanding the subtleties of environments that make them attractive to people.

The working out of this will depend a lot on formulas for making it attractive and collaborative.

The technology gives us tremendous power to solve this stark problem all around us. We need to design these so no child is left out of this. What need to ask, what is education after all? We need to resolve that. What are we getting our young people ready for? It's for the purpose of our life.