Using Discussion Forums in Blackboard to Facilitate Electronic Government Course Delivery

Recent pedagogical trends called for a transformation in the educational process where students are given more control and responsibility over their learning process. Instructors are expected to act as facilitators and mentors. This research shows the results of using the discussion forums feature in blackboard (BB) to effectively deliver an electronic government (eGov) course. The course emphasizes both the soft and the hard aspects of managing eGov projects. This is considered quite challenging to senior undergraduate students as it requires familiarity with the outside world and organizational dynamic. The use of the BB in this course is intended to achieve two main objectives. Firstly, by reading the assigned material prior to coming to class, students have already started to demonstrate an understanding of the specified topic/chapter. Secondly, students are requested to further push their understanding of the topic by posting a contribution in a BB discussion forums relating to an issue in their readings selected from the Internet and other resources. This research depicts the protocol of this technique and shows its usage in a classroom setting.