Abstract:

New media is giving a new avatar to the education. Especially the second generation of web is drastically altered the education and teaching-learning patterns. Online forum is one of the tiny kids of new media and act as a vibrant tool for the learners. A forum allows many people to chime in about their experiences, information, technical knowhow, etc. It is an online communication between multiple users through text, voice, video and more. Throughout the world billions of forums are exist. This research was carried out to study the role and usage of online forum among the media students during the year 2010. The specific objectives of the study were to know the awareness; analyze the process and usage pattern; to find out the effectiveness and other dimensions of the online forums among the media students. Content analysis, survey and in-depth interview methods were used to find out facts. Forum’s contents like visual appearance, interaction, navigations, interface, etc. were analyzed. Survey was conducted among the media students. In-depth interview was done among the experts. The research has found the following important facts: Online forums are acting better platform for the media students. The users frequently visited the forum and follow the thread. Most of the students post their doubts, queries on the particular topic and got many reply answers from other members like peers, experts, etc. They also exchange their views and clear doubts. It increases their capacity, subject knowledge, etc. Online forum is a cost effective method and a better tool for education.

Keywords: