Supplemental Material for When online courses became the student union: Technologies for peer interaction and their association with improved outcomes during COVID-19.

The benefits of peer interaction, support, and feedback in Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) for Languages (LMOOCs) are well documented, but there has been little research on peer correction in MOOCs. Classroom-based research suggests that peer corrective feedback has significant potential for language development, but it also identifies a number of conditions for the feedback to be effective, notably a ‘positive classroom atmosphere’; this may be hard to achieve on a MOOC, with its diverse cohort and large number of participants. Our mixed-method study reveals participants’ conflicting expectations of learning from their peers on the one hand and actively contributing to their peers’ learning on the other. Most participants believe they are not competent to provide helpful corrective feedback, and some think that the expectation to correct creates unwanted pressure and hinders communication. This paper encourages MOOC educators to address the challenge of creating a culture of learning through meaningful interaction whilst also finding ways of exploiting the opportunities offered by constructive peer correction.

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Mediating knowledge through peer-to-peer interaction in a multicultural online learning environment: A case of international students in the US

The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning ◽

10.19173/irrodl.v15i3.1629 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 15 (3) ◽

Cited By ~ 17

Author(s):

Gulnara Sadykova

Keyword(s):

Online Learning ◽

International Students ◽

Research University ◽

Peer Interaction ◽

Online Courses ◽

The United States ◽

Peer To Peer ◽

Continuous Growth ◽

International Graduate ◽

The Us

<p>The continuous growth of online learning and its movement towards cross-border and cross-culture education has recently taken a new turn with the epic hype that currently surrounds the development of massive open online courses (MOOCs) (Beattie-Moss, 2013). This development brings to focus the experiences of international students who take online courses designed and offered within the paradigm of Western pedagogy. Employing a sociocultural theoretical framework (Vygotsky, 1978; Scollon & Scollon, 2001), this paper examines the mediating roles that peers may play in the context of multicultural online learning environments. This two-stage, mixed methods study explored the experiences of 12 international graduate students who took fully online courses in a large research university in the northeastern region of the United States. The data included a survey, online interviews, as well as a case study that took a close look at the experiences of a female student from China. Findings of the study demonstrated that international students that come from diverse native academic backgrounds and cultures may necessitate a close relationship with peers they meet in the US courses. Peers become invaluable mediators of knowledge for international students who seek peer assistance to compensate for the lack of culture-specific knowledge and skills and to satisfy their interest in the host culture. The study suggests that course developers and facilitators should be proactive when assigning group projects and activities so as to enable close peer-to-peer interaction and opportunities for building personal relationships with other class members.</p>

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Training Graduate Student Clinicians to Use Preschool Peer Interaction Strategies

Perspectives on Administration and Supervision ◽

10.1044/aas19.1.13 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 19 (1) ◽

pp. 13-18

Author(s):

Corey L. Herd

Keyword(s):

Language Development ◽

Training Program ◽

Peer Interaction ◽

Graduate Program ◽

Peer Interactions ◽

Graduate Programs ◽

Communication Disorders ◽

Learning Opportunities ◽

Knowledge And Skills ◽

Direct Training

Abstract Playing with peers is an important part of childhood—what children learn from interacting with one another has enormous impact on both their social and language development. Although many children naturally develop the ability to interact well with peers, some children have difficulty interacting with other children and may miss out on important learning opportunities as a result. Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) can target the peer interactions of young children on their caseload, assuming that they have the knowledge and skills with which to address them. SLP graduate programs have the opportunity to provide future SLPs with both knowledge and skills-based training. This study assessed a graduate program in which three graduate clinicians participated in a preschool program for children with communication disorders; peer interactions were targeted within the program. The students were observed and data was collected regarding their use of peer interaction facilitation strategies in the group sessions both prior to and after they participated in a direct training program regarding the use of such skills. Outcomes indicate that the direct training program resulted in a statistically significant increase in the students' use of different strategies to facilitate peer interactions among the children in the group.

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Family Support in Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) Systems

Perspectives on Hearing and Hearing Disorders in Childhood ◽

10.1044/hhdc22.1.11 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 22 (1) ◽

pp. 11-21

Author(s):

Patti Martin ◽

Nannette Nicholson ◽

Charia Hall

Keyword(s):

Family Support ◽

Hard Of Hearing ◽

Critical Role ◽

Annual Conference ◽

Federal Law ◽

Think Tank ◽

Learning Collaborative ◽

Technological Advances ◽

Improved Outcomes ◽

Program Components

Family support has evolved from a buzzword of the 1990s to a concept founded in theory, mandated by federal law, valued across disciplines, and espoused by both parents and professionals. This emphasis on family-centered practices for families of young children with disabilities, coupled with federal policy initiatives and technological advances, served as the impetus for the development of Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) programs (Nicholson & Martin, in press). White, Forsman, Eichwald, and Muñoz (2010) provide an excellent review of the evolution of EHDI systems, which include family support as one of their 9 components. The National Center for Hearing Assessment and Management (NCHAM), the Maternal and Child Health Bureau, and the Center for Disease Control Centers cosponsored the first National EHDI Conference. This conference brought stakeholders including parents, practitioners, and researchers from diverse backgrounds together to form a learning collaborative (Forsman, 2002). Attendees represented a variety of state, national, and/or federal agencies and organizations. This forum focused effort on the development of EHDI programs infused with translating research into practices and policy. When NCHAM, recognizing the critical role of family support in the improvement of outcomes for both children and families, created a think tank to investigate the concept of a conference centered on support for families of children who are deaf or hard of hearing in 2005, the “Investing in Family Support” (IFSC) conference was born. This conference was specifically designed to facilitate and enhance EHDI efforts within the family support arena. From this venue, a model of family support was conceptualized and has served as the cornerstone of the IFSC annual conference since 2006. Designed to be a functional framework, the IFSC model delineates where and how families find support. In this article, we will promote and encourage continued efforts towards defining operational measures and program components to ultimately quantify success as it relates to improved outcomes for these children and their families. The authors view this opportunity to revisit the theoretical underpinnings of family support, the emerging research in this area, and the basics of the IFSC Model of Family Support as a call to action. We challenge professionals who work with children identified as deaf or hard of hearing to move family support from conceptualization to practices that are grounded in evidence and ever mindful of the unique and dynamic nature of individual families.

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