Influence of Learning Design of the Formation of Online Communities of Learning

This paper presents the findings of a study on a fully online Bachelor’s level course in Health Sciences at a European University conducted to explore the influence of learning design on the formation and evolution of different types of communities of learning. The impetus for the study came from th...

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Autores principales: Shazia K Jan, Panos Vlachopoulos
Formato: article
Lenguaje:EN
Publicado: Athabasca University Press 2018
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Acceso en línea:https://doaj.org/article/a99115641a6c45118fa193d561170564
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spelling oai:doaj.org-article:a99115641a6c45118fa193d5611705642021-12-02T17:16:06ZInfluence of Learning Design of the Formation of Online Communities of Learning10.19173/irrodl.v19i4.36201492-3831https://doaj.org/article/a99115641a6c45118fa193d5611705642018-09-01T00:00:00Zhttp://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/3620https://doaj.org/toc/1492-3831This paper presents the findings of a study on a fully online Bachelor’s level course in Health Sciences at a European University conducted to explore the influence of learning design on the formation and evolution of different types of communities of learning. The impetus for the study came from the well-established effectiveness of community-based learning, a need for understanding learning design and analytics within networked structures and, the lack of theoretical grounding for social network analysis (SNA) in previous literature.  Our study uses the Integrated Methodological Framework (IMF) which employs SNA as the key methodology for exploring community-based learning in light of the Communities of Practice (CoP) and Community of Inquiry (CoI) frameworks. The course comprised of three differently designed successive discussion forums spanning three weeks each. Network diagrams and SNA measures clearly showed the impact of the different learning designs on student engagement in the discussion forums. Based on CoP and CoI structural components within the IMF, a comparative analysis of whole-network properties of the three networks indicated the formation of a CoP, initiated and mediated by the tutor in discussion 1, sustained by the students in discussion 2, and disintegrated due to lack of guidance and facilitation in discussion 3. Qualitative analysis on the content of discussion posts revealed the importance of group oriented messages in the formation of the CoP. The paper discusses findings in terms of implications for learning design and analytics in online learning and the role of the tutor in community formation. Shazia K JanPanos VlachopoulosAthabasca University Pressarticleonline learninglearning designlearning analyticscommunities of practicecommunity of inquirysocial network analysisSpecial aspects of educationLC8-6691ENInternational Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, Vol 19, Iss 4 (2018)
institution DOAJ
collection DOAJ
language EN
topic online learning
learning design
learning analytics
communities of practice
community of inquiry
social network analysis
Special aspects of education
LC8-6691
spellingShingle online learning
learning design
learning analytics
communities of practice
community of inquiry
social network analysis
Special aspects of education
LC8-6691
Shazia K Jan
Panos Vlachopoulos
Influence of Learning Design of the Formation of Online Communities of Learning
description This paper presents the findings of a study on a fully online Bachelor’s level course in Health Sciences at a European University conducted to explore the influence of learning design on the formation and evolution of different types of communities of learning. The impetus for the study came from the well-established effectiveness of community-based learning, a need for understanding learning design and analytics within networked structures and, the lack of theoretical grounding for social network analysis (SNA) in previous literature.  Our study uses the Integrated Methodological Framework (IMF) which employs SNA as the key methodology for exploring community-based learning in light of the Communities of Practice (CoP) and Community of Inquiry (CoI) frameworks. The course comprised of three differently designed successive discussion forums spanning three weeks each. Network diagrams and SNA measures clearly showed the impact of the different learning designs on student engagement in the discussion forums. Based on CoP and CoI structural components within the IMF, a comparative analysis of whole-network properties of the three networks indicated the formation of a CoP, initiated and mediated by the tutor in discussion 1, sustained by the students in discussion 2, and disintegrated due to lack of guidance and facilitation in discussion 3. Qualitative analysis on the content of discussion posts revealed the importance of group oriented messages in the formation of the CoP. The paper discusses findings in terms of implications for learning design and analytics in online learning and the role of the tutor in community formation.
format article
author Shazia K Jan
Panos Vlachopoulos
author_facet Shazia K Jan
Panos Vlachopoulos
author_sort Shazia K Jan
title Influence of Learning Design of the Formation of Online Communities of Learning
title_short Influence of Learning Design of the Formation of Online Communities of Learning
title_full Influence of Learning Design of the Formation of Online Communities of Learning
title_fullStr Influence of Learning Design of the Formation of Online Communities of Learning
title_full_unstemmed Influence of Learning Design of the Formation of Online Communities of Learning
title_sort influence of learning design of the formation of online communities of learning
publisher Athabasca University Press
publishDate 2018
url https://doaj.org/article/a99115641a6c45118fa193d561170564
work_keys_str_mv AT shaziakjan influenceoflearningdesignoftheformationofonlinecommunitiesoflearning
AT panosvlachopoulos influenceoflearningdesignoftheformationofonlinecommunitiesoflearning
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