Efl Teachers’ Role In Using Computer Mediated Communication To Initiate Online Discussion: A Case Study In Indonesian Secondary Education

Abstract

A myriad of studies have investigated the positive outcomes of organizing online discussion. Yet, little empirical evidence reports the role of teachers in managing online discussion employing computer-mediated communication (CMC). A recent study attempts to investigate teachers' role using CMC to initiate online discussion as the medium and to explore how the teacher conducts an online discussion in promoting students’ outcomes. Grounded in a qualitative case study using an unstructured in-depth interview with an experienced secondary education teacher, through thematic analysis, I found that the teachers’ role does affect students’ outcomes in terms of their activeness and critical thinking skills. The findings suggest that during online discussion that adapting computer-mediated communication is beneficial to prepared students skilled in 21st century skills, which have a plenty of conjunction with communication, collaboration, and technology skills.