This study aims to examine how students' learning trajectories progress in an online social annotation environment, and how their cognitive processes and levels of interaction correlate with their learning outcomes. Three different types of activities (cognitive, metacognitive and social) were identified in the online environment. The time…

This research develops a Web-based argumentation system named the Web-based Interactive Argumentation System (WIAS). WIAS can provide teachers with the scaffolding for argumentation instruction. Students can propose their statements, collect supporting evidence and share and discuss with peers online. This research adopts a quasi-experimental…

This paper aims to analyse if virtual forums set up in an environment specifically designed to improve collaborative learning can effectively influence students' discourse quality and learning when compared with those forums set up in a general environment. Following a coding schema based upon the set of scaffolds offered in the Knowledge…

The link between students' spelling level and their text-messaging practice gives rise to numerous questions from teachers, parents and the media. A corpus of 4524 text messages produced in daily-life situations by students in sixth and seventh grade (n?=?19, 11-12 years of age) was compiled. None of the participants had ever owned or used a…

Several studies have analysed and assessed online performance and discourse using quantitative and qualitative methods. Quantitative measures have typically included the analysis of participation rates and learning outcomes in terms of grades. Qualitative measures of postings, discussions and context features aim to give insights into the nature…

This paper reports on a study investigating the potential effect of synchronous and asynchronous text-based computer-mediated communication (CMC) on oral fluency development of second-language (L2) learners. Sixty-three intermediate learners of English were randomly assigned to one of three groups (two experimental groups and one control group),…

This research examines selected online comments from open courses available on Chinese websites. These courses were created by universities in the West as an effort to build open educational resources (OER) and were recently translated into Chinese and were relocated to some popular Chinese websites. This research aimed to understand why the…

This study used survey data to measure the effect of learners' reported interactions with content, peers, and instructors on several course outcomes in two virtual high school courses that emphasized interactive learning. Surveys found that the large majority of students viewed all investigated types of interaction as educational and motivational.…

Blogs have been increasingly used to supplement traditional classroom lectures in higher education. This paper explores the use of blogs, and how student attitudes towards online peer interaction and peer learning, as well as motivation to learn from peers, may differ when using the blog comments feature, and when students are encouraged to read…

We present an analysis of a longitudinal case study whose aim was to understand the processes of integration of a face-to-face and networked collaborative learning technology and pedagogy into a secondary school history-geography classroom. Students carried out a sequence of argumentative tasks relating to sustainable development, including…

Facebook and other social media have been hailed as delivering the promise of new, socially engaged educational experiences for students in undergraduate, self-directed, and other educational sectors. A theoretical and historical analysis of these media in the light of earlier media transformations, however, helps to situate and qualify this…

Peer facilitation is proposed as a solution to counter limited interaction in asynchronous online discussions. However, there is a lack of empirical research on online peer facilitation. This study identifies, through cross-case comparison of two graduate-level blended courses attended by Asian Pacific students, the actual peer facilitation…

This study presents a new perspective to facilitate learner-centred weblog evaluation, based on content attractiveness, blogging support, and the value-added service construct. A mixed method, combining fishbone diagram, fuzzy logic techniques, and the analytic hierarchy process, was conducted to identify further the criteria that attract bloggers…

Scholars participate in online social networks for professional purposes. In such networks, learning takes the form of participation and identity formation through engagement in and contribution to networked practices. While current literature describes the possible benefits of online participation, empirical research on scholars' use of online…

The intensive use of interactive media has led to assertions about the effect of these media on youth. Rather than following the assumption of a distinct Net generation, this study investigates diversity in interactive media use among youth. Results from a pilot study show that contemporary youth can be divided into clusters based on the use of…