A case study of using web discussion to develop a learning community

Hu Yong and Wang Lu
Capital Normal University
Beijing, China

Through its asynchronous, public, non-sequential and selective nature, the Internet provides new opportunities for education. Some research, however, has shown that it is not easy for web-based learning to be successful. We used a participatory design method for a web-based course to promote active and collaborative learning. Based on seven principles for good practice in undergraduate education (Chickering & Gamson, 1987 ) and the key defining aspects of a community of learners defined by Wells, Chang and Maher (1990) -- along with concerns raised by fellow instructors and learners -- we created categories and analyzed one class web discussion of Master of Education students and their instructor. We examined references they used, topics, genres, and relationships with other messages, and then we used the social network analysis method to analyse the social aspects of the collaborative learning process. Our findings suggest that academic dialogue exists within students' web postings, learners can integrate their learning with their out-of-class experience, most participants can get timely feedback, and some participants develop cohesive collaborative relationships, yet only some instead of all learners actively participated in the learning process. These findings suggest that instructional interactive webs can be a useful tool for promoting and building a learning community to some extent.