• Deeya Nambiar

Online learning has given an opportunity to pursue courses offered by universities across the world. Every course of e-learning provides video lectures, exams, assignments and discussion forums to give a feel of classroom teaching to a student who has enrolled at online learning platform. While some courses are instructor-driven with a set deadline, there are other self-paced courses which not only gives instant access to the entire course material but also lets a student set a study time-table to suit his pace and various commitments. Here, the online discussion forums are a means of communicating the course-related topics provided for discussions. The discussion boards or panels (forums), in other words, are a way to connect the student or the candidate to the faculty or instructor. It also encourages the students in a virtual platform to “know each other” as well. The present study aims to understand the significance of Discussion Forum in Online Learning. The objective of the study is to highlight the role of online discussion in e-learning with regard to student participants, their expectations and information sharing. The researcher works on the study using secondary data and explore facts using qualitative research methodology tool of participant observation to become a part of online learning. For the purpose of the present study, the researcher limits to self-paced courses available in the field of creative writing and media. In the field of learning and distance education, online learning is growing with its number of initiatives being offered by world-over universities and government, however, the discussion forums lead an insight into the student identity and expectations.

Online learning, Online discussion forum, Self-paced course

"ROLE OF DISCUSSION FORUMS IN ONLINE LEARNING", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.6, Issue 4, page no.197-200, April-2019, Available :http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIRBH06028.pdf

"ROLE OF DISCUSSION FORUMS IN ONLINE LEARNING", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org | UGC and issn Approved), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.6, Issue 4, page no. pp197-200, April-2019, Available at : http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIRBH06028.pdf