Online collaborative learning has been widely used in the field of education. However, unrelated or off-topic information is often included in online collaborative learning. Furthermore, the content of online discussion is often too shallow or narrow. To achieve productive collaborative learning, this study proposed and validated an automated…

Despite the positive claims on the pedagogical use of social annotation and online collaborative writing tools discussed in the literature, most of the findings are derived from interviews or self-reported survey data. Very few studies probed deep into the learning processes and examined students' digital traces and the artefacts they…

Discussion forums are often touted as maximising student participation and learning but concerns around engagement counter any perceived benefits. Often participation is the measure of engagement, and students who do not post are deemed unengaged. To further examine engagement and forums as learning communities, we used analytic data from 270…

Instructors face challenges in facilitating higher levels of shared cognition in large enrolment classes. One strategy to foster shared cognition is the use of asynchronous discussions; however, these can be difficult to support with large numbers of students. Online protocols have been found to help students take more ownership of the discussion,…

Effective employment of information and communication technology (ICT) in foreign language teaching and learning has become imperative as a means to support second language development when traditional face-to-face instruction and interaction is not possible. Using a design-based research approach and a theoretical framework that integrates…

There is growing demand for online learning activities that offer flexibility for students to study anywhere, anytime, as online students fit study around work and family commitments. We designed a series of online activities and evaluated how, where, and with what devices students used the activities, as well as their levels of engagement and…

This study aimed to explore learners' discourse patterns and outcomes while using a visible-annotation tool as a collaborative representation tool. The tool used in this study introduced two types of sharing activities before the problem-solving phase to support sequential knowledge construction. Forty participants were randomly assigned to one of…

The purpose of this study was to further our understanding of the use of Twitter for promoting reflective learning. Specifically, this study investigated how students participate in Twitter-supported activities, what type of knowledge are manifested when Twitter is used to reflect on the course readings, and how students perceive the…

Most studies on traditional asynchronous online discussion suggest that facilitating dialogue, that is, commenting forum activities, result in better learning and performance. However, due to open entry and diverse learner backgrounds, learner behaviour in massive open online courses (MOOCs) may be different. Viewing forum messages, which involves…

Diagrams illustrating research on discussion forum content in online education practices can assist to clarify an author's thoughts and assist with the reader's comprehension. A review of past practices in the use of diagrams to explain, demonstrate or propose research findings shows a diversity of practices emerging from naturalistic settings.…

In this article we will describe a continuum of development towards knowledge generation and networked learning which emerges as practising teachers participate in a connectivist experience offered through an open online class (OOC) learning design. We believe that this design offers an opportunity to provide authentic professional development and…

Online professional development (OPD) is gaining increasing popularity. However, online learning environments are not always considered effective venues for supporting authentic learning experiences, and the suitability of OPD for practical learning has not been widely explored. This case study paper presents findings of a pilot implementation of…

In this study, differences were analysed between two groups of online teachers in a Master of Special Educational Needs program. One group scored high on student satisfaction and the second group received low student satisfaction ratings. Findings indicate that high satisfaction is associated with relatively long and pedagogically complex messages…

This study reports on a qualitative small-scale exploratory study which examined the factors influencing 32 Iranian pre-service language teachers' participation in online asynchronous text-based discussion forums. By adopting a multiple case study design and analysing data gathered through semi-structured interviews and participants' online…

Eighty-nine students were provided with a student-only live-voice space in a Learning Management System (LMS). Would they use it and, if so, would they feel sufficient ownership to create what Havnes (2008) described as "partly self-made niches"? In this study, a substantial proportion of respondents reported that they used the space not…