Online learning community software to support success in project teams

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 71 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian Patrick Thoms
Keyword(s):  
Online Learning ◽  
Social Interaction ◽  
Social Networking ◽  
Learning Community ◽  
Online Community ◽  
Project Teams ◽  
Online Learning Community ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Networking Technologies ◽  
Community Software

<p>In this research we explore aspects of social interaction and community as they relate to success in project-based courses. Using specialized online community software consisting of social networking technologies and project-based wikis, project teams are able to collaborate and interact as they progress towards project milestones. Our study underscores the importance of sustained engagement as a means for fostering high levels of community and how these levels relate to project motivation and, ultimately, project success. Guided by a theoretical model that explains how individuals collaborate within online communities, we measure member perceptions of the software before and after our intervention. Survey results found that online learning community (OLC) software can successfully support learning and social interaction. These results are supported by a social network analysis (SNA), which shows high levels of individual engagement across the project lifecycle.</p><p> </p><p> Keywords: social networking, online learning community, wiki, project management, capstone project.</p>

A User Driven Learning Environment in Botany

2011 ◽  
pp. 255-275
Author(s):  
J. M. Garg ◽  
Dinesh Valke ◽  
Max Overton
Keyword(s):  
Online Learning ◽  
Learning Environment ◽  
Learning Community ◽  
Special Interest ◽  
Lived Experiences ◽  
Online Community ◽  
Information Resources ◽  
Online Learning Community ◽  
Conversational Learning ◽  
Group Members

This chapter introduces the reader to a sample ‘User driven learning environment’ created in an online community with a special interest centred on trees and plants. It traces the development of an online learning community through the lived experiences and thoughts of its founding members and also includes conversational learning experiences of other users to illustrate the process of ‘user driven learning’ in online communities. It illustrates innovative sense making methodologies utilized by group members to create a more meaningful ‘User driven learning environment’ while simultaneously contributing in a positive way to create information resources at no cost along with creating awareness & scientific temper among members.

Backstage with the Knowledge Boys and Girls: Goffman and Distributed Agency in an Organic Online Community

2007 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 307-325 ◽  
Author(s):  
Drew A.R. Ross
Keyword(s):  
Online Learning ◽  
Learning Community ◽  
Online Community ◽  
Social Space ◽  
Message Board ◽  
High Stakes ◽  
Online Learning Community ◽  
The World ◽  
Electronic Social Space ◽  
Front Region

An institutionally independent organic online learning community (OOLC) founded and populated by London cabbies-in-training, more commonly known to the world and to themselves as `Knowledge Boys and Girls', is described here. Qualitative discourse analysis of message board transcripts and interviews with members was undertaken in an effort to elucidate benefits that accrue to OOLC members. Goffman's theory of region behaviour is enlisted to explain why frank, collegial and sometimes confessional interactions with peers might take place in such an online venue. This article suggests that through such candid interactions among peers, learners create a back-region that allows participants to compare themselves with one another, cultivate friendships and practise for high-stakes assessments. OOLC members take advantage of the pseudonymity provided by their electronic social space to engage in behaviours that, if they occurred in a front-region, might invite damage to a learner's reputation as a pre-service cabbie. The online community BR becomes a sanctuary of sorts for taking social and academic risks, one where potential adverse consequences are few and benefits are legion.

Resurrecting Graduate Conversation through an Online Learning Community

2009 ◽  
pp. 341-350
Author(s):  
Brian Thoms ◽  
Nathan Garrett ◽  
Mariana Soffer ◽  
Terry Ryan
Keyword(s):  
Online Learning ◽  
Action Research ◽  
Graduate Students ◽  
Web 2.0 ◽  
Social Networking ◽  
Learning Community ◽  
Graduate School ◽  
Web 2.0 Technologies ◽  
Online Learning Community

This article reports on action research that implements online learning community (OLC) software to foster conversation at a specific graduate school. The design of the research is informed by theories of conversation, online learning, and social networking, as well as by popular Web 2.0 technologies. A distinguishing feature of this application is that it is oriented toward and controlled by individuals rather than being centered on courses. Results indicate that stakeholders—graduate students and faculty—appreciate and find value in the OLC we implemented.

The Key Elements of Online Learning Communities

2010 ◽  
pp. 119-132
Author(s):  
Jianxia Du ◽  
Yunyan Liu ◽  
Robert L. Brown
Keyword(s):  
Online Learning ◽  
Social Interaction ◽  
Learning Communities ◽  
Learning Community ◽  
The Other ◽  
Online Classroom ◽  
Online Learning Community ◽  
Online Learning Communities ◽  
New Ideas ◽  
Media Choices

An online learning community can be a place for vibrant discussions and the sharing of new ideas in a medium where content constantly changes. This chapter will first examine the different definitions that researchers have provided for online learning communities. It will then illuminate several key elements that are integral to onlinelearning communities: interactivity, in both its task-driven and socio-emotional forms; collaboration, which both builds and nurtures online communities; trusting relationships, which are developed primarily through social interaction and consist of shared goals and a sense of belonging or connectedness; and communication media choices, which impact the other three elements. This chapter also provides suggestions for the practical application of these elementsin the online classroom.

scholarly journals The Attitudes of Saudi Intermediate Students towards English Speaking Tasks in Flipped Learning via an Online Learning Community

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. p37
Author(s):  
Amjad S. Alharbi ◽  
Hind A. Alfadda
Keyword(s):  
Online Learning ◽  
Public School ◽  
Learning Community ◽  
Online Community ◽  
Flipped Learning ◽  
Online Learning Community ◽  
Intermediate Students ◽  
Quasi Experimental ◽  
Speaking Skill ◽  
Students Attitudes

This paper investigates Saudi intermediate students’ attitudes towards using flipped learning via an online learning community to enhance their speaking skill at a Saudi female’s public-school number 186. The writer observed and analysed the effect of using flipped learning in an online community on the development and engagement of students in speaking tasks. The study uses a quantitative quasi-experimental method to describe and analyse the student’s attitudes and development of the speaking skill among Arabic-speaking students in the public-school number 186 in Saudi Arabia during the academic year 2019-2020. The researcher applied a questionnaire and an observation checklist as the main instrument to achieve the study goal. The findings of the study were not statistically significant regarding the effect of flipped learning via an Online Learning Community (OLC) on the development of students’ speaking skill. However, there was a slight difference in the mean scores in favor to the post-test of the experimental group. The students’ attitudes were positive towards the flipped learning via OLC for speaking tasks.

Resurrecting Graduate Conversation through an Online Learning Community

2010 ◽  
pp. 810-819
Author(s):  
Edson Pinheiro Pimentel ◽  
Nizam Omar
Keyword(s):  
Online Learning ◽  
Action Research ◽  
Graduate Students ◽  
Web 2.0 ◽  
Social Networking ◽  
Learning Community ◽  
Graduate School ◽  
Web 2.0 Technologies ◽  
Online Learning Community

This article reports on action research that implementsonline learning community (OLC) software to fosterconversation at a specific graduate school. The design of the research is informed by theories of conversation, onlinelearning, and social networking, as well as by popular Web 2.0 technologies. A distinguishing feature of this application is that it is oriented toward and controlled by individuals rather than being centered on courses. Results indicate that stakeholders—graduate students and faculty—appreciate and find value in the OLC we implemented.

The Key Elements of Online Learning Communities

2010 ◽  
pp. 61-75 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jianxia Du ◽  
Yunyan Liu ◽  
Robert L. Brown
Keyword(s):  
Online Learning ◽  
Social Interaction ◽  
Learning Communities ◽  
Learning Community ◽  
The Other ◽  
Online Classroom ◽  
Online Learning Community ◽  
Online Learning Communities ◽  
New Ideas ◽  
Media Choices

An online learning community can be a place for vibrant discussions and the sharing of new ideas in a medium where content constantly changes. This chapter will first examine the different definitions that researchers have provided for online learning communities. It will then illuminate several key elements that are integral to online learning communities: interactivity, in both its task-driven and socio-emotional forms; collaboration, which both builds and nurtures online communities; trusting relationships, which are developed primarily through social interaction and consist of shared goals and a sense of belonging or connectedness; and communication media choices, which impact the other three elements. This chapter also provides suggestions for the practical application of these elements in the online classroom.

Evaluation

2011 ◽  
pp. 186-214 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frances Bell ◽  
Elena Zaitseva ◽  
Danuta Zakrzewska
Keyword(s):  
Online Learning ◽  
Learning Communities ◽  
Technology Acceptance ◽  
Learning Community ◽  
Online Community ◽  
Evaluation Process ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Online Learning Community ◽  
Online Learning Communities

Our emphasis in this chapter is on the sustainability of online educational communities, particularly the role that evaluation has to play in promoting sustainability. From the literature on online communities and evaluation of technology, we select and extend models of online community and technology acceptance that inform and enable the design and evaluation of sustainable online educational communities. Sustainability is a key issue that highlights the sociotechnical nature of these communities. Collaboration Across Borders is an online learning community that has received EU Socrates-Minerva funding to establish international collaboration between tutors and students and investigate sustainability of online learning communities. We present a case study of the development of the CAB community and its associated portal http://moodle.cabweb.net as a chronology of significant events. We then chart the evaluation process, using examples of tools and data to highlight the role of evaluation in the development of CABWEB and the sustainability of the CAB Community. Finally, we offer practical advice to those who wish to develop online learning communities, either small-scale collaborations between two groups of students or international networks of students and tutors.

scholarly journals Developing Coding Structures For Becoming Affect-Savy in the Fully Online Community Model

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ufuk Yagci ◽  
ROLAND VANOOSTVEEN
Keyword(s):  
Online Learning ◽  
Learning Community ◽  
Facial Expressions ◽  
Social Presence ◽  
Online Community ◽  
Positive Emotions ◽  
Body Language ◽  
Coding System ◽  
Online Learning Community ◽  
The Social

This study aims to provide support for the efficacy of the Fully Online Learning Community (FOLC) Model by examining communication between participants within a series of recorded online focus groups and by investigating the behaviours that are undertaken by participants. A coding system based on body language expressions is proposed as an outcome of this study and the affective domain of the participants is analyzed through facial expressions, body language and content (words) employed. Findings suggest that affects (emotions) have a preeminent role in the social presence in FOLC environments. Positive emotions are easier to detect as individuals exhibit them without masking, with some possible exceptions arising from personal dispositions and cultural inferences. Negative emotions can also be detected through a combination of facial expressions and body language coding. However, findings were not consistent for determining sadness and surprise states and further studies will have to explore ways to differentiate these affects from others. The instigations set forward by the participants and affective responses to the behaviours of instigators provided support for the empirical study about the efficacy of facilitation and interactions within fully online learning environments.

Enhancing Scholarly Conversation Through an Online Learning Community

2010 ◽  
pp. 68-81
Author(s):  
Brian Thoms ◽  
Nathan Garrett ◽  
Terry Ryan
Keyword(s):  
Online Learning ◽  
Action Research ◽  
Graduate Students ◽  
Social Networking ◽  
Learning Community ◽  
Online Learning Community ◽  
Management Software ◽  
Traditional Course ◽  
Course Management Software ◽  
User Centric

This paper reports on action research (AR) that implements online learning community (OLC) software to foster conversation and community at a specific graduate school. Informed by theories of conversation, online learning, and social networking we incorporate Web 2.0 technologies in the creation of a user-centric OLC. A distinguishing feature of our software is that, rather than being centered on courses like traditional course management software (CMS), our software is oriented towards and controlled by individuals. Results indicate that stakeholders—graduate students and faculty—appreciate and find value in the OLC we implemented.

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