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Taking the Message Out of the Bottle: An Information-Rich Spatial Message Board and Outlining Tool
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, Harvard Law School, United States ; , University of Cincinnati, United States

E-Learn: World Conference on E-Learning in Corporate, Government, Healthcare, and Higher Education, in Vancouver, Canada ISBN 978-1-880094-76-1 Publisher: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE), San Diego, CA

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Abstract

The message board is a staple of most distance education courses. Although the tool emerged as a simple way to allow for asynchronous communication, its feature set has stagnated in academia. While message boards outside of academia have adopted numerous conventions to increase communication richness, such as embedded icons and hierarchical organization, these features are largely absent from academic tools.This paper details the development of a new spatial message board tool based on mind mapping software for use a top-10 law school in the United States. The software adds spatial and graphical organization in an attempt to increase student comprehension and navigability. It also houses synchronous communication features. This paper discusses the current need for the software, the selection process, the development of best practices, the preliminary findings of alpha-testing, and future uses of the spatial message board. While the system has not yet been fully implemented in a classroom setting, reports from student users have been quite encouraging.

Citation

Moshirnia, A. & Israel, M. (2009). Taking the Message Out of the Bottle: An Information-Rich Spatial Message Board and Outlining Tool. In T. Bastiaens, J. Dron & C. Xin (Eds.), Proceedings of E-Learn 2009--World Conference on E-Learning in Corporate, Government, Healthcare, and Higher Education (pp. 1827-1835). Vancouver, Canada: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE). Retrieved August 6, 2024 from .

© 2009 Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE)

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References

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