As Twitter became a popular platform for social networking, educators gravitated to the platform for professional networking. Educators began to utilize the hashtag #edchat to denote their ongoing and growing conversations on education subjects. Educational institutions began to require teachers to participate in the platform or would grant…

Computer Supported Collaborative Learning literature relates high levels of collaboration to enhanced learning outcomes. However, an agreement on what is considered a high level of collaboration is unclear, especially if a qualitative approach is taken. This study describes how methods of Social Network Analysis were used to design a collaboration…

This study investigated the boundaries of online learners' information disclosure, relationship building, interpersonal integration, and motivation by drawing upon the theoretical frameworks of the social information processing and communication privacy management theories and the hyperpersonal model. A total of 103 students from a higher…

Distance education as a primary means of instruction is expanding significantly at the college and university level. Simultaneously, the growth of social networking sites (SNS) including Facebook, LinkedIn, and MySpace is also rising among today's college students. An increasing number of higher education instructors are beginning to combine…

This qualitative study examines the structure and importance of communication channels in the adoption of Web-based courses by university professors. This study provides insight into the importance of informal communication among peers, the changing nature of communication networks, factors that impede communication, the role of change agents in…

As online professional development courses for teachers have grown, the discussion forum has become a locus of considerable research. This study analyzes the discussion forums in four different sessions of a short (4-week) online course for teachers from six schools in three states. This study also compares four methodologies, all of which have a…

The paper investigates interactions on five online courses involving staff that currently lecture or support learners in further and higher education at the University of Glamorgan, and its partner colleges throughout Wales. The qualitative research involves an ethnographical study of the ethos of the online communities of students. The findings…

In support of research examining relationships between learner characteristics and the quality of online discussions, this paper surveys different methods for evaluating discussions. The paper will present coding methods used in our own research as well as methods used by others interested in quality online discussions. Key topics include what…