Abstract

Among the claims made for online learning is its potential to foster critical thinking, particularly by engaging students in asynchronous discussions conducted in writing. This paper reviews and critiques these claims. It first examines the uses of writing and classroom discussion in modeling and encouraging critical thinking. It then reviews some of the arguments for the possible advantages of online interaction over face-to-face discussion. Finally, it critiques these claims by comparing the specific features, which distinguish the experience of participation in asynchronous written discussions from synchronous oraldiscussion. This comparison illuminates the role of oral discussion in modeling and developing students’ critical thinking skills and points out difficulty of doing so through asynchronous computer-mediated discussions.