The purpose of this study was to investigate whether and how students enact "responsibility" and "generativity" through their comments in asynchronous online discussions. "Responsibility" referred to discourse markers indicating participants' sense that their contributions are required in order to uphold their…

Astronomy: State of the Art is a massive, open, online class (MOOC) offered through Udemy by an instructional team at the University of Arizona. With nearly 24,000 enrolled as of early 2015, it is the largest astronomy MOOC available. The astronomical numbers enrolled do not translate into a similar level of engagement. The content consists of 14…

A key reason for using asynchronous computer conferencing in instruction is its potential for supporting collaborative learning. However, few studies have examined collaboration in computer conferencing. This study examined collaboration in six peer review groups within an asynchronous computer conferencing. Eighteen tertiary students participated…

To date, teacher perceptions of online language teaching have attracted very little attention. However, these perceptions may influence decisions regarding instructional design, teaching practices and eventually the learning experience. Furthermore, teacher perceptions can contribute to the design of teacher training programs. This study provides…

This article focusses on graduate level students' interactions during asynchronous CMC activities of an online course about the teaching profession in Turkey. The instructor of the course designed and facilitated a semester-long asynchronous CMC on forum discussions, and investigated the interaction of learners in multiple perspectives: learners'…

The goal of this study was to develop a classification for a range of discourse patterns that occur in text-based asynchronous discussion forums, and that can aid in the distinction of three modes of discourse: knowledge sharing, knowledge construction, and knowledge building. The dataset was taken from Knowledge Forum® databases in the Knowledge…

This article investigates a blended project-based approach that was introduced to forestry and ICT undergraduates as an extracurricular activity at the University of Eldoret, Kenya. The approach blends problem-based learning and participatory design to solve real-life forestry problems. Even though the use of the approach itself is not novel, in…

The telecollaborative project under study involves, on the one hand, Masters students who are studying to become teachers and who design the tasks as well as tutor them, and, on the other hand, French language students. The relationship in this type of telecollaboration has been shown to be both asymmetric and symmetric. The hypothesis this paper…

This study investigated the nature and degree of difference in students' behaviors, participation, and power structures in classroom based online book discussions versus face-to-face discussions using pseudonyms, to determine whether online discussion is a useful adjunct to face-to-face literature circles in involving all students as participants.…

This study explores the extent to which students in colocated teams use synchronous and asynchronous computer-mediated communication channels (task virtuality) and how this use affects their perceptions of the team's performance, their satisfaction with the team, and the learning they derive from the process. Survey results show that different…

This descriptive case study includes both new principals and their mentor principals engaged in e-mentoring activities. This study examines the components of a school district's mentoring program in order to make sense of e-mentoring technology. The literature review highlights mentoring practices in education, and also draws upon e-mentoring…

Asynchronous online discussion forums are common in blended learning models and are popular with students. A previous report has suggested that participation in these forums may assist student learning in a gross anatomy subject but it was unclear as to whether more academically able students post more often or whether participation led to…

The purpose of this study was to identify dimensions of students' communication satisfaction in an asynchronous discussion forum. An asynchronous discussion may be defined as text-based human-to-human communication via computer networks that provides a platform for the participants to interact with one another to exchange ideas, insights, and…

Instructional designers need to be able to assess the level of knowledge construction generated by participants of a virtual learning community (VLC). Such participants include the learners engaged in threaded discussions within online courses. Assessing the level of knowledge construction enables course revisions that scaffold such knowledge…

This study presents a case study of asynchronous online discussions' (AOD) growth patterns in an undergraduate blended course to address the gap in our current understanding of how threads are developed in peer-moderated AODs. Building on a taxonomy of thread pattern proposed by Chan, Hew and Cheung (2009), growth patterns of thirty-six forums…