Table 1. The Teachers' Online Discussion Forum Categories and Total Threads Posted
The Ministry of Education in Saudi Arabia has special online discussion forums for teachers as part of its internet website. The study surveys those teachers' online forums and reports the number of participants, number of threads and responses, topics with the highest and lowest posts and the forums role in teachers' professional development and their effect on their attitudes.
Latest developments in information and communication technology has made it easier for teachers to communicate with each other. Teachers no longer need to meet face to face to discuss educational issues and problems and to exchange ideas and experiences. They can do so through mailing lists, e-mail, newsgroups, live chat, text-messaging, videoconferencing and online discussion forums. Synchronous and asynchronous online learning communities are widely used in almost every profession including education.
Several studies have investigated the effectiveness of participation in online discussion forums on teachers' performance and attitudes. For example, Carboni (1999) investigated the use of an online discussion forum to support practicing elementary school teachers' professional development in mathematics. The forum was structured around teachers' sharing, discussing, and reflecting on elementary mathematics teaching. The forums helped the teachers to make sense of teaching mathematics, helped them to support and share with each other as a learning community.
In another study, the pilot Teacher Dialogue Forums provided Georgia teachers with an opportunity to learn about current research on teaching and the teaching profession, share views and learn from colleagues, and let their voices be heard and used to shape practice and policy in teaching. The teachers appreciated the Forums and the opportunity to discuss teaching in the light of current research (Fletcher, 1999).
In a third study, the professional development experiences of 28 practicing teachers in ten Chicago suburban schools involved in a two-year technology supported Problem-Based Learning curriculum development effort were explored by Hawkes & Romiszowski (2001). Asynchronous computer-mediated communications (CMC) were featured as teacher communication tools of the project. It was concluded that the value of CMC lies in its ability to facilitate professional collaboration between teachers and encourage critical reflection on educational policy and practice.
In a few studies, however, online discussion forums were found to be ineffective. McMahon (1997) reported that Teachers' inflexibility and lack of familiarity with the new technology were obstacles to the online professional development program using Mathematics Learning Forums. In another in-service professional development project for secondary mathematics teachers, the project staff struggled to build professional community through online discussions of teaching mathematics with technology. Although the project staff made structural adjustments to increase online participation, the discussion forum received little significant use. The face to- face workshops were well-attended and judged highly effective by the participants (Stephens & Hartmann, 2004) . Similarly, Selwyn (2000) found that, although the online forum was widely used as both an information and empathetic exchange resource, many claims of establishing collectively-focused virtual communities of teachers remain exaggerated, as the forum was limited by various caveats associated with computer mediated communications groups in general.
It can be concluded from the above studies that the effect of online discussion forums on teachers' professional development seems to be dependent on several factors. McAteer & Harris (2003) indicated that success is influenced by purpose, i.e., the reasons for introducing CMC, the content, tasks, intended outcomes, group profile and support systems available. Hough & Evertson (2004) added that clearly articulating purposes for discussions, framing the kind of participation expected, including both experienced and beginning teachers, and establishing trust among participants shape the kinds of issues and depth of thinking revealed.
As in many parts of the world, teachers' asynchronous online discussion forums have become an emerging phenomenon in Saudi Arabia and have become popular among online learning communities that are moderated by teachers. Two years ago, the Ministry of Education in Saudi Arabia officially launched online discussion forums for school teachers, supervisors, administrators as well as women's and teachers' college faculty and students. They were established to create opportunities for in-depth peer-to-peer and student-instructor-administration interaction. The present study examines the kinds of topics, issues and problems posted, the forums' possible role in teachers' professional development and benefits and shortcomings of those forums as perceived by the participants. Advantages and weaknesses of the forums are reported based on the views of the forums' administrator, moderators and a sample of participating teachers, as well as a content analysis of a sample of threads posted and issues discussed.
The Ministry of Education's Online Teachers' Discussion Forms were browsed and examined. The total number of participants, forum categories, total number of threads and responses posted, topics with the highest and lowest posts and views and the percentage of active participants were calculated. For content analysis, the first two pages of each of the forums were examined, i.e. a total of 1476 threads. To find out whether participation in the Teachers' Online Discussion Forums has any benefits for teachers, and what role this participation plays in the teachers' professional development and its effects on improving the teaching-learning situation, the forum administrator, five moderators and a sample of 50 participating teachers were interviewed. Results are reported quantitatively and qualitatively.
Table 1. The Teachers' Online Discussion Forum Categories and Total Threads Posted
The Ministry of Education has 26 forum categories that include 48 sub-categories and 50 moderators (20 females and 30 males) (See Table 1). The Forums have 32,803 members: 75% are teachers, 10% are students and 15% are parents and other members of the community. However, participating teachers constitute 5.78% of the total number of teachers (425,826) in grades K-12 in the kingdom. This might reflect individual, social and technological barriers. Many teachers in Saudi Arabia are still techno-phobic, are not used to this kind of technology or have difficulty in accessing and using it. Many feel that they do not have the time to participate.
The forum members have posted a total of 34,432 threads that generated a total of 304,030 responses. All posted threads are self-initiated. The forum administrator and moderators post one thread for week to assess members' views on a particular issue. Forums with the highest number of posts are: General (9,368); Male Teachers' Affairs (4,307); Subject Areas (3,032); Recreation (2,250); Female Teachers' Affairs (1,837) and Compunet (1,045). Two of these are non-academic (general and recreation). Forums with the lowest number of posts are: Students' Health (474); Training (373); Talented Students (330); Educational Research (313); Adult Education (308); Evaluation (202); and Teachers in Private Schools (8). The subject areas generated the following threads: Arabic Language (777); Science (582); English Language (353); Primary Grades (309); Physical Education And Art Education (393); Social Studies (180); Home Economics and Kindergarten (145) and Special Education (142) respectively (See Table 1).
Issues that generated the most discussion (over 50 threads) were: Contests (649 threads); chemistry questions covering curriculum (570); English language forum (350); primary grades skills (294); membership issues (from administrator) (235); graphics (213); fatawa about shares (185); test forum (180); midterm tests (176); extracurricular activities website (162); graduates' issues (152); a lecture about the rights of the blind (130); Ma'aref software (121); highlights of the school health forum (120); English exam questions (115); talented students (58); developing thinking skills (47); and college admission results (40). On the other hand, issues that generated the least discussion (under 20 posts) were: Using the computer in preparing audiovisual aids; job satisfaction among elementary school counselors; a guide to research skills; management by objectives; cognitive concepts in education for all; an education for all report; a plan for activating the education for all forum; 68 training programs in Hafr Al-Batin; a private school principal meeting in Madinah; school dropouts; education and WTO; oil prices are up and no jobs; educational supervision; parents are partners in decision making; an exceptional children's symposium; perseverance is the road to success; creative thinking skills; a motivating idea; test anxiety; using TV as a distance education medium; a framework for employing women.
Threads that triggered the most views (regardless of the number of threads) are: Graduate issues (14,029 views); The ministry's test bank with key (10,229); Social studies new curriculum lesson plans (10,142); Test bank for all subject areas (8,252); College Admissions test results (7,832); Requests for changing details (6,883); Add a line of verse that you like (6,611); English language lesson plans (5,581); All you need about final exams (5,242); Elementary and secondary social studies questions (5,127); Teachers' college graduates (5,118); A daily quotable quote (4,665); About the teaching of math (4,163); Tips for teaching grade 6 (3,656); Grade 12 Ministry physics exam questions (3,219); Art education lesson plans (3,070); Largest clip art collection (downloadable) (2,936); A Vice principal's plan: all required records (2,885); Science websites (2,620); Complete collection of appreciation certificates (2,441); Ideas for Extracurricular activities (2,365); Download the strongest math software (2,279).
Threads with the highest posts and views in the present study are inconsistent with findings of prior research. In the pilot Teacher Dialogue Forums provided to Georgia teachers, the issues that generated the most discussion were: Teacher preparation; beginning teachers; professional development; teacher certification; administrative support; teachers as professionals; reorganizing schools; quality core curriculum; school funding and resources; and competitive salaries and teacher incentives (Fletcher, 1999).
The forum administrator and moderators reported that the forums receive lots of attention from the Ministry of Education's officials, who are themselves members and spend some time in browsing the forums. They submit a monthly report to the minister on urgent issues and problems discussed such as: collapsing schools, students' absenteeism before final exams, teachers who are preoccupied with the stock-market and ignore their teaching responsibilities, teacher transfer, unemployment among college graduates, and students with special needs. In addition, the teachers reported that they find the forums very helpful. They can post requests for teaching strategies, lesson plans, audio-visual aids, software problems, materials and problems any time and receive immediate responses and help from several members. The forums help them to communicate problems and suggestions with the Ministry officials.
The administrator, moderators and teachers indicated that the forums help the teachers in exchanging knowledge, information and experiences. They learn from others' posts, can upload materials, lesson plans, test questions, e-books, and software and learn from teaching tips offered. However, the effect of participation in those forums on professional development and on whether teachers are following the lesson plans, applying the teaching strategies posted, and readily choosing to incorporate web resources into their teaching cannot be estimated without pre- and post-participation measures and assessment. However, Koszalka (2001) found that teachers who participated in computer-mediated discussions had gained significantly higher attitude scores toward the use of web resources in their classrooms than teachers who did not or not likely to adopt such innovations.
An examination of a sample of thread contents showed that the forums have created social inter-personal rapport among the participants. Male and female members are inclusive, supportive and receptive of each other's ideas and attend to each other's needs. The forum moderators exclude those who do not abide by the forum netiquette rules. Teachers who do not feel comfortable speaking in public, may post responses and requests without disclosing their identity as they can use a nickname.
As in the present study, Fauske & Wade (2004) revealed that both men and women used a range and a mix of discourse strategies. Both men and women are inclusive, supportive, personalizing, receptive to others' ideas, and attenuating. They are also willing to be critical and to challenge others' assumptions, images, beliefs, and positions, which they usually prefaced with supportive and attenuating remarks. In addition, both men and women were equally likely to mock and exclude those who did not abide by the conventions of the group norms, although such comments were uncommon.
Despite the many benefits, the Ministry of Education's Online Teachers' Discussion Forums have several shortcomings. One is that only 22% of the participants are active. They search, post issues and materials, and respond to queries. Another shortcoming is that the forums are socially opaque as 96% of the members use a nickname and thus participants may not know who they are addressing or interacting with and who is posting what. Although the discussion threads have generated 304,030 responses, 90% were compliments and not real comments. The volume of threads and responses is overwhelming which makes it difficult to locate a certain topic. The system's search tool is also inefficient. When a keyword is entered, a random list of threads is obtained. Searching by author's name is will provide more accurate results. It is time-consuming to read and respond to the messages of so many teachers. Moreover, 32% of the threads are not related to a forum's main theme, and the message subject is not specified the topic precisely instead vague subject lines like question; I have a problem; please help me; Traffic Week; greetings & congratulating; to whom it may concern., are commonly found.
Furthermore, the main forum categories are too broad and some are overlapping. This led some members to misplace their topics. Threads with specific subjects will generate more threads, responses and views than nonspecific ones.
Finally, non-educational issues such as greetings, entertainment, contests, poetry etc. received more attention and seemed to be more attractive than educational issues as they constituted about 38% of the total posts. Teacher issues received more attention than student issues (20% and 6.5% respectively). Although the illiteracy rate in Saudi Arabia is 21%, less than 1% of the total threads were allocated to adult education. Personal issues and problems, and day-to-day teaching problems and tasks received more attention than highly specialized educational issues. Teachers seemed to be more interested in obtaining ready-made lesson plans, test questions, test results, extracurricular activities, and worry about supervisors' evaluations than in training, self improvement, attending conferences and symposia, results of educational research, comprehensive evaluation, use of technology in teaching and others (4% of the total threads), probably because most teachers might not have received any pre-service preparation nor in-service training and hence they are not familiar with them.
The Ministry of Education Online Teachers' Discussion Forums in Saudi Arabia are becoming popular among teachers. An average of 100 members joins the forums daily, and they post an average of 94 threads and 935 responses per day. Participants post conference and symposium announcements; graduate college admission deadlines; test dates, reports; forums; resources; links to educational websites; lesson plans, teaching tips and ideas, newspapers articles discussing an educational issue; using the computer in preparing audiovisual aids and recruitment issues. Teachers also post their critical views on educational policy and practice. The Forums seem to be ideal for fostering dialog among teachers, school administrators, supervisors and ministry officials. They promote asynchronous self directed learning, peer support and greater involvement in teaching-learning and student-teacher issues. They provide an opportunity for cognitive, social, and teaching presences, essential for the successful development of online learning communities. Although the members constitute a homogeneous group and the climate of interaction is warm and positive, forum categories need to be more focused, message subjects need to be brief, clear, specific and posted under the designated category. Adding an index or thesaurus of terms will help teachers to enter their comments in the right place.
To overcome the overwhelming amount and variety of information posted, and to facilitate the later storage and retrieval of specific information, the study recommends a teachers' network with several databases, similar to Discovery School and teachers' T.V. In addition to the Teachers' Discussion Forums, the network databases may include different subject areas, a test-bank; lesson plans; teaching resources; e-library, teaching ideas; conference dates and calls; live training and tutoring; web-links; news about current developments in the profession and others. Each of these may be created in hypertext and can be searched in a way similar to specialized database searching such as ERIC. To help teachers to join in the forums and network, links should be included in the 42 school districts' websites. Orientation workshops and user guides may be used to introduce these technologies to the teachers, which will ultimately lead to better communication and interaction among members of the education profession.