CIDER SESSION

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 Fundamental Characteristics of Formal
Virtual Learning Communities

  Richard Schwier ­ Ben Daniel ­ Heather Ross
 
VLC Lab
 Program of Research
• 3 years - 2004-2007
• Purpose: develop a model of virtual learning 
communities (VLCs) that is grounded in practice
• Do elements of terrestrial communities exhibit 
themselves in virtual learning communities, and do 
they inform our understanding of how these 
communities contribute to learning environments? 
• How do contextual, pedagogical, social and cultural 
issues influence participation in virtual learning 
communities?  

  Richard Schwier ­ Ben Daniel ­ Heather Ross
 
VLC Lab
 Theoretical Underpinnings

VLC model (Schwier, 2001)

  Richard Schwier ­ Ben Daniel ­ Heather Ross
 
VLC Lab
 Theoretical Underpinning
• Social capital (SC) in virtual learning communities
(VLCs) is a web of positive or negative relationships
among learners
• In the context of VLCs, SC serves as:
– A framework for researchers to understand the flow of
information and knowledge in a community
– A conduit for information and knowledge sharing among
learners
– An enabler of interactions that encourages peer-help and can
encourage lifelong learning and socialisation
– A lubricant for building trust, shared understanding and
collaboration among learners based on reciprocal actions

  Richard Schwier ­ Ben Daniel ­ Heather Ross
 
VLC Lab
 Theoretical Underpinnings
Typical Indicators of SC
Interaction
A mutual or reciprocal action between two or more agents determined by the number of
messages sent and received
Attitudes
People’s general perception about each other and how such perceptions relate to interaction in
the community
Community type
The type of the environment, tools, goals, and tasks that define the group
Shared understanding
A mutual agreement/consensus between two or more agents about the meaning, or
understanding of an object or each other
Awareness
Knowledge of people, tasks, or environment

  Richard Schwier ­ Ben Daniel ­ Heather Ross
 
VLC Lab
 Theoretical Underpinnings
Typical Indicators of SC
Demographic awareness
Knowledge of an individual’s demographic information (country of origin, language and
location)
Professional cultural awareness
Knowledge of background training, skills and competences
Knowledge task awareness
Knowledge about someone’s capability to perform a given task
Capability awareness
Knowledge of people’s competences and skills in regards to a particular task
Norms and social protocols
The mutually agreed upon acceptable and unacceptable behaviours in a community
Trust
A particular level of probability an agent uses to assess the action of another agent

  Richard Schwier ­ Ben Daniel ­ Heather Ross
 
VLC Lab
 Research Questions - Year 1

• How do patterns of online interaction in the

course inform our understanding of the
catalysts of community?
• What is the nature of learning that emerged in
these formal learning environments
• Are the proposed features of community
manifest in online communication in formal
virtual learning environments?

  Richard Schwier ­ Ben Daniel ­ Heather Ross
 
VLC Lab
 Research Design
• Two graduate level courses in year 1
• One course included weekly structured online
discussions
• One course included unstructured discussion
repository for team members involved in
problem-based learning course

  Richard Schwier ­ Ben Daniel ­ Heather Ross
 
VLC Lab
 Data sources
• Transcripts of online discussions
• Transcripts of email
• Interviews with selected participants
• Online focus group

• Adding in year 2: Sense of Community Index

  Richard Schwier ­ Ben Daniel ­ Heather Ross
 
VLC Lab
 Analysis
*Structural Features
– Size and complexity of network
– Density and intensity of interactions

*Interactional Features
– Kinds of content exchanged in interactions
– The exchange flow or the directedness of the resulting interaction
*From Fahy, Crawford, & Ally (2001)

Community Features
– Evidence of social capital (trust, awareness)
– Observations about nature of learning
– Evidence of elements of VLC from model

  Richard Schwier ­ Ben Daniel ­ Heather Ross
 
VLC Lab
 Data Analysis
• Coding with Atlas ti
– Grounded theory approach for novel variables
– Purposeful coding for anticipated variables
(reliability estimates)
• TAT & Sociograms of interactions (social
networking software and analysis in year 3)
• Bayesian analysis (coming in year 2)

  Richard Schwier ­ Ben Daniel ­ Heather Ross
 
VLC Lab
 Bayesian Belief Network Approach

• A BBN is a graphical model for reasoning about

probabilistic relationships among two or more
variables
Bayes’
Likelihood
Theorem
Prior

P (e / h) P ( h )
P ( h / e) =
P (e)
Posterior
Probability of
Evidence
•Probability of an hypothesis, h, can be updated when evidence, e, has been obtained

  Richard Schwier ­ Ben Daniel ­ Heather Ross
 
VLC Lab
 Example of BBN Variables Mapping for
Social Capital

Nodes represent random SC variables with multivariate states and strengths

  Richard Schwier ­ Ben Daniel ­ Heather Ross
 
VLC Lab
 BBN for Social Capital

Interaction Node set to Positive; p(i)=1.00

  Richard Schwier ­ Ben Daniel ­ Heather Ross
 
VLC Lab
 Preliminary Results
• Initial coding of
approximately 80% of
data from year 1
• Reliability estimates yet
to be calculated
• First attempts at
sociogram development

  Richard Schwier ­ Ben Daniel ­ Heather Ross
 
VLC Lab
 Structural Analysis
• Size & complexity of network
– 11 students, 1 instructor, 1 TA
– Rotating responsibility for moderation
– 1 discussion topic per week
– Moderator expected to post intro and manage discussion with
additional postings
– Students required to post initially, & expected to respond
freely
• Level of participation
– Participation = 490 required postings/858 total postings = .57

  Richard Schwier ­ Ben Daniel ­ Heather Ross
 
VLC Lab
 Patterns of Peripheral Interaction
S/R ratio
From

To

3.92 2.08 1.87 .90 .93 .91 .44 .67 .65 .38 .55 1.22 .64

  Richard Schwier ­ Ben Daniel ­ Heather Ross
 
VLC Lab
 Patterns of
Peripheral
Interaction:

Instructor
&
Students

  Richard Schwier ­ Ben Daniel ­ Heather Ross
 
VLC Lab
 Patterns of
Peripheral
Interaction:

Instructor
&
Students

  Richard Schwier ­ Ben Daniel ­ Heather Ross
 
VLC Lab
 Patterns of
Peripheral
Interaction
among
Students

Density = 2a/n(n-1) = .92

  Richard Schwier ­ Ben Daniel ­ Heather Ross
 
VLC Lab
 Nature of Learning
• Categories emerged from data
• Learning is multivariate and diverse within the
community - categories are tentative and share
variance
• Casual observation that there were significant
differences between two versions of the course, and the
course that emphasized online discussions and
asynchronous events demonstrated qualitatively
different types of learning

  Richard Schwier ­ Ben Daniel ­ Heather Ross
 
VLC Lab
  Richard Schwier ­ Ben Daniel ­ Heather Ross
 
VLC Lab
 Preliminary results: Learning
• Sharing experiences the dominant expression of learning
• The prominence of feedback was, to a large extent, built
into the design of the discussions
• Participants constantly provided feedback to each other
• There is a reasonable level of shared understanding,
argumentation, evaluation, elaboration, inquiry and
reflection
• Discussions are normally sustained for a certain period
of time (no measure of persistence yet)

  Richard Schwier ­ Ben Daniel ­ Heather Ross
 
VLC Lab
 Incidence of elements & catalysts
from model in transcripts

1 - Autonomy 1 - Identity
5 - Technology 6 - Historicity
8 - Plurality 2 - Future orientation
0 - Mutuality 1161 - Hospitality
35 - Learning

  Richard Schwier ­ Ben Daniel ­ Heather Ross
 
VLC Lab
 Future
• Track individual intensity/involvement over time.
• What are the characteristic elements of learning in
VLCs?
• What are effective learning strategies in VLCs?
• Is there any variation in the quality of discussions
generated through synchronous and asynchronous
interactions in VLCs?
• How to develop a BBN model of learning in VLCs that
can be used to understand the nature of learning in
VLCs?

  Richard Schwier ­ Ben Daniel ­ Heather Ross
 
VLC Lab
 Stay Tuned! CIDER Session III

What? Topic: Online discussions

Who? Elizabeth Murphy, Memorial University

Why? Come prepared with a research question

re online asynchronous text-based discussion

When? April 8, 2005 – 11:00 a.m., MT

Where? Online at Elluminate Live!