Growing interest in online learning has instructors looking for new ways to engage learners in asynchronous discussions. Building on experiences with hashtag use to connect on social media platforms, the purpose of this study is to investigate the contexts of hashtag use and its associated impact on learner engagement in asynchronous online…

This paper theorizes issues involved with conflicts between participation in on-line settings and real-world social commitments, such as has recently happened in schools with students using public discussion forums for classes. We problematize how real-world social commitments negatively affect participation in online learning environments…

This article contributes to the debate about e-learning as a form of adult education. It is based on the experiences of South African students, describes and analyses group interaction in an intercontinental Masters in Adult Education Programme which uses a computer electronic platform as the primary medium for learning and teaching. The article…

An e-learning discussion forum, an essential component of today's e-learning systems, offers a platform for social learning activities. However, as learners participate in the discussion forum, privacy emerges as a major concern. Privacy concerns in social learning activities originate from one learner's inability to convey a desired presentation…

A research group at the University of Alberta is attempting to apply the Community of Inquiry framework to all components of courses, rather than only the online discussion component.

Sixty-seven undergraduates taking either a Blended Business Course (BBC) or an Online Education Course (OEC) were surveyed about factors influencing their "listening" behaviors in asynchronous online course discussions. These are the ways they attend to the posts made by others: which posts they open, how they engage with open posts, and…