An Analysis of Online Discussion Platforms for Academic Deliberation Support
(link.springer.com)https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-58562-8_8Conclusion
"Online discussions require adequate Web-based software application to support people in proposing ideas for action and argumenting regarding the consequences of these options, for a deliberation. Although literature has proposed platforms to this end and studied human behaviour in this context, the design features of software platforms to support argumentation and debate of ideas in academic deliberations remains hardly investigated. In this paper, we conducted a comparative analysis of three online discussion platforms, based on a real academic context of use. Results revealed central aspects and limitations to guide the design of online deliberation software systems. We found that the discussion quality is highly dependent on the design choices the participants encounter for elaboration of well directed propositions. Further research involves a thorough characterization of the nature and values of academic discussion and the co-design and development of a situated-interaction platform.".
