Online Discussion Tools in Teacher Education: Threaded Forums and Collaborative Mind Maps in a Mathematics Education Program

Abstract

Currently, a major trend in teacher education is the use of blended learning, which allows institutions to use the advantages of online learning while maintaining the regular course structure and professors' role. The authors present a case study of a mathematics methods course in a teacher education program at Western University. In this blended course, the online component consisted of three elements: (1) online modules publicly available at researchideas.ca/wmt, (2) online journal assignments through threaded forums, and (3) collaborative mind maps through Mindomo (https://www.mindomo.com). In this chapter, the authors look specifically into the latter two online components. Through a qualitative data analysis of teacher candidates' online discussion (both in online forums and mind-maps), the researchers respond to the question: What are the roles that each online activity played in the participants' education as mathematics teachers?