COMPUTER-MEDIATED COMMUNICATION IN INSTRUCTIONAL SETTINGS - A RESEARCH AGENDA

Computer-mediated communication (CMC) is being used increasingly in education, often as a means to provide discussion forums for university classes. The growth of the use of CMC provides an opportunity to study its impact in instructional communication. Content analysis can provide answers about the types of messaging content and the longitudinal evolution of specialized codes in instructional CMC. The Uses and Gratifications approach can provide a perspective to ask questions about user motivations in instructional contexts, as well as the perceived consequences of CMC use in instructional contexts.