Asynchronous Discussion Forums: Success Factors, Outcomes, Assessments, and Limitations

Online learning has been burgeoning over the past decade with one of the more popular modes of conducting online learning being the asynchronous online courses. Within the asynchronous online course, the asynchronous discussion forum replaces the face-to-face interaction of the traditional classroom, but is this form of discussion able to enhance the learning process? This paper reviews the literature regarding asynchronous discussion forums finding that that the asynchronous discussion forum is able to generate the critical dimensions of learning found in the traditional classroom, but it has its limitations.