The current study explored the interaction patterns of a cohort of international students in a Professional Doctorate of Higher Education program (EdD) in order to establish the extent to which (if at all) the cohort evolved into an authentic online learning community. Phase 1 of the study consisted of a retrospective audit of three out of the…

More and more educational institutions are moving towards online distance learning. Although asynchronous online learning overcomes the constraints of time, place and pace, online distance learners feel isolated due to the lack of real-time communications. One possible solution for overcoming this sense of isolation is regulating student online…

This study examined the gender difference in students' perceived discussion strategies in face-to-face and online asynchronous contexts. A survey of 363 university students and follow-up interviews of 20 participants was conducted to examine any gender differences within each context and between the two contexts. The Discussion Strategies Scale…

This paper describes an application of learning analytics that builds on an existing research program investigating how students contribute and attend to the messages of others in asynchronous online discussions. We first overview the E-Listening research program and then explain how this work was translated into analytics that students and…

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether asynchronous video posts and synchronous videoconferencing would create higher levels of teaching and social presence within an online course when compared with the university's current text-based discussion platform. Undergraduate students in an online teacher education course were randomly…

This chapter investigates students' reported patterns of use and perceived outcomes of an online intercultural exchange. It is hoped that the study will inform our understanding of the students' language learning process on an online discussion forum and consequently will help us maximise the educational potential of computer-mediated…

The aim of this study is to reveal opinions and experiences of two Computer Education and Instructional Technologies Departments' students about case study discussion method after they discussed in online asynchronous environment about Instructional Design (ID). Totally, 80 second year students, 40 from Dokuz Eylul University and 40 from Karadeniz…

Background: In the last decade, asynchronous online discussion forums have become a primary focus of many educational researchers. Some advocates believed that the process of typing out messages in itself can promote in-depth critical thinking skills. Nevertheless, empirical research has not provided much support for this claim in natural…

More and more educational institutions have been moving towards delivering courses and programs at a distance. Although asynchronous online courses overcome the constraints of time, students feel isolated due to the lack of real-time communications. One possible solution to overcome this isolation been suggested that learner's online behavior and…

Previous research studies on factors influencing student higher-level knowledge construction in asynchronous online discussions have largely focused on the instructors' role, student learning style, and the complexity of the discussion task. This study explores the issue from a different angle--that of student facilitators' habits of mind.…

Grounded theory is used to examine the role and application of both educator-led and student-led forums within a virtual learning environment (VLE) of a higher education institution (HEI). The study reports experiences and perceptions of academics in two faculties (business and technology) in the HEI who use both asynchronous VLE forums and social…

Internet-mediated intercultural discussions have been adopted for intercultural and second-language learning. However, the notion of community development in this context has received less attention. This study employs exchange structure (ES) analysis (Stubbs, M. (1983). "Discourse analysis." Oxford: Basil Blackwell) to investigate the…

This study investigated the online practices of students enrolled in graduate-level distance education courses. Using interviews and a questionnaire as data sources, the study sought to: (a) identify common practices that students adopt in asynchronous discussions, and (b) gain an understanding of why students adopt them. An analysis of the data…

This study explored the use of the Web-based virtual environment, Adobe Connect Pro, in a postgraduate online teacher education programme at the University of Waikato. It applied the tenets of Moore's Theory of Transactional Distance (Moore, 1997) in examining the efficacy of using the virtual classroom to promote quality dialogue and explored how…

The purpose of this study is to explore how groups decide to use asynchronous online discussion forums in a non-mandatory setting, and, after the group decision is made, how group members use online discussion forums to complete a collaborative learning project requiring complex data gathering and research processes. While a large body of research…