This study empirically investigated: How will various aspects of students' prominence (i.e., betweenness, closeness, and eigenvector centralities) in the social network interaction of online discussion change over time? And how will Self-Regulated Learning (SRL) skills moderate the trend over time on various aspects of students' prominence in…

Gamification is the use of game mechanics to drive game-like engagements and actions. It applies game mechanics, dynamics and frameworks to promote desired learning behaviours. Positive and effective gamification could enhance learning and engage learners in more social and context-rich decision-making for problem-solving in learning tasks.…

Open Network Learning Environments (ONLE) are online networks that afford learners the opportunity to participate in creative content endeavors, personalized identity projections, networked mechanism management, and effective collaborative community integration by applying Web 2.0 tools in open environments. It supports social interaction by…

Mobile learning environments are human networks that afford the opportunity to participate in creative endeavors, social networking, organize/reorganize social contents, and manage social acts at anytime, anywhere through mobile technologies. Social acts that elicit identities, develop awareness, cement relationships, ensure connections, and…

Learning management systems traditionally provide structures to guide online learners to achieve their learning goals. Web 2.0 technology empowers learners to create, share, and organize their personal learning environments in open network environments; and allows learners to engage in social networking and collaborating activities. Advanced…

Online learners and instructors are more diverse in their social and cultural backgrounds than their counterparts in face-to-face classrooms. The diversified social and cultural backgrounds of online learners and instructors complicate the conceptualization of online social presence and pose challenges to instructors in course design. This study…

Studied social presence in an online learning environment and focused on three elements: social context, online communication, and interactivity: that emerged as important in establishing a sense of community among online learners. Discusses the privacy factor, learner characteristics, computer-mediated communication, and course design.…

Describes a study that used an ethnographic approach with a dramaturgy strategy to examine Chinese higher education students' interactions and perceptions of social presence in online learning environments. Results indicate that social presence, including social context, online communication, and interactivity, affected Chinese students'…

Describes a study of graduate students that examined how online privacy affects social presence in online learning environments and whether three types of computer-mediated communication, email, bulletin board, and real-time discussion, affect online privacy. Results of analysis of variance revealed that the correlation between social presence and…

This study was designed to examine social presence, to determine how it relates to online interaction, and to provide an operational definition. Participants were students in a graduate level course on the Internet for teachers at Arizona State University. By examining the learner's perception of social presence in three CMC (Computer Mediated…

Discusses effective designs, management tactics, and strategies to produce ideal asynchronous network discussions that allow contemplation and encourage the development of critical thinking. A model of an online collaborative learning community is applied to implement the designs. A sample of online collaborative moderation guidelines is…

Online interaction creates a desirable learning situation. Transferring traditional instruction to an online environment usually does not generate effective interaction for learning. This paper discusses theories and practices for an interactive collaborative learning community in an online environment. Three theoretical constructs--interactivity,…

Examines educational technology applications in Taiwan. Highlights include historical background; learning technology integration; computer availability; teacher training; student and teacher attitudes; computer-mediated communication and collaboration; curriculum planning; distance education; and an educational technology model that includes…