Building the better asynchronous computer mediated communication system for use in distributed education

The viability of distributed educational services delivered via asynchronous learning networks (ALN) has been well established both in practice and through the literature. Despite wide and enthusiastic support for ALN based distributed education, the learning environment is still quite immature. The software constituting the environment has largely been developed in an ad hoc fashion. To great extent, the primary design goal appears to have been to have the online environment simulate the classroom as closely as possible. This paper addresses the design weaknesses of distributed education systems by developing a requirements specification for an effective asynchronous computer mediated communication system for use in a learning environment. The specification was developed through a Nominal Group Technique process involving eight computing technology in education graduate students with significant experience as students in an online environment. The specification was validated through a Delphi process involving a different set of 20 experienced graduate students.