This research study delves into the multifaceted realm of social presence in online education, encompassing the existence and manifestation of social presence indicators in students' engagement with discussion boards within asynchronous online courses. Social presence manifests when individuals perceive themselves to be simultaneously present with…

The objective of achieving a sense of "authenticity" in an educational context is one that might have immediate appeal, though how this is defined, let alone achieved, remains contested. The concept of "authentic discussion" has traditionally been used in the context of classroom English teaching in schools, but this paper…

This article offers a vision for technology supported collaborative and discussion-based learning at scale. It begins with historical work in the area of tutorial dialogue systems. It traces the history of that area of the field of Artificial Intelligence in Education as it has made an impact on the field of Computer-Supported Collaborative…

This paper describes a research project that investigated the process of redesigning a fully-online unit, in order to enhance undergraduate Education students' engagement in their learning. This redesign was guided by the development of an Engagement Framework, which presents five elements of engagement that are distinct yet interrelated. The…

This paper documents a study investigating co-construction of knowledge by doctoral students in an online learning community. In this study 12 students participated in the coursework and thesis proposal development stages of a doctoral program offered by a research-intensive university in New Zealand. Socio-cultural and social constructivist…

Discussion boards are a common component of asynchronous online courses. While many teacher preparation courses utilize traditional text-based discussion boards, university faculty are increasingly designing innovative approaches to asynchronous online discussions. There is significant research regarding the effectiveness of varied discussion…

Help-seeking is a valuable practice in online discussion forums. However, the asynchronicity and information overload of online discussion forums have made it challenging for help seekers and providers to connect effectively. This study formulated a new method to provide fair and accurate insights toward building a peer recommender to support…

Help-seeking is a valuable practice in online discussion forums. However, the asynchronicity and information overload of online discussion forums have made it challenging for help seekers and providers to connect effectively. This study formulated a new method to provide fair and accurate insights toward building a peer recommender to support…

This article provides several strategies for using a learning management system to engage online students and to promote the development of self-regulated learning skills in a 4-week accelerated summer course.

This report presents the compilation of interaction analysis of a month long online discussion that supplemented regular FAIMER fellowship programme for health professional teachers. Online discussion forums are considered as an effective means and if conducted using appropriate protocols and activities will help learners to share and gain…

In the COVID-19 era, "Yellowdig" (an online discussion board with social media-like features) has increasingly risen to prominence in higher education. Reflecting on a multi-year experiment involving 14 international business and marketing courses, I argue that Yellowdig remains a valuable tool for learning even after returning to…

Online discussions tend to be more effective when they are purposefully structured. In this article, we describe how the design of a photo-based protocol influenced community interactions within an online discussion in an undergraduate course. Students were asked to take and share a photo related to a course concept, respond to a peer's photo, and…

Does learner participation vary depending on the learning context? Are there characteristic features of participation evident in formal, non-formal, and informal online learning environments? Six online learning environments were chosen as epitomes of formal, non-formal, and informal learning contexts and compared. Transcripts of online…

This study uses WhatsApp to facilitate online discussions in developing content idea for ESL writing. A quasi-experimental study was conducted with 33 pre-university students participating in online discussions on WhatsApp for five weeks to support face-to-face instructions. Pre-test, post-test, and five weekly writing tests were administered,…

Project-based learning (PjBL) engages students in knowledge acquisition, application, and construction through artefact development. Based on the Community of Inquiry framework, this study characterized college students' social and cognitive presences in online PjBL and examined how presence was related to their academic performance. Twenty-four…