Year: 2016
Type: dissertation
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Distance education is growing rapidly at the post-secondary level in Canada. Despite the growing popularity of online learning in higher education, distance education often suffers from high dropout rates, which have been attributed to the physical separation of students. Such separation tends to give rise to feelings of isolation and disconnection. According to the literature, these feelings can be overcome by fostering a sense of community, that is a sense of belonging and interactivity among online learners. While a growing body of literature emphasizes the importance of fostering a community in online course communities, it is not clear how this is best accomplished. There is neither an accepted set of rules or strategies nor clearly defined steps in the development of a community in online course communities. In addition, the research on the effects of a community on learning is mixed. A few scholars criticize existing research for failing to demonstrate the role of community in learning through rigorous empirical studies. My research is concerned with this gap in the literature. So far, current research has made little progress in providing answers concerning the role of community. Findings from this study revealed that strong community levels were associated with instructor-facilitated online course communities, whereas weak community levels were associated with peer-facilitated online course communities. Students in the online course communities with stronger community levels, posted more notes, replied to more notes, and reread notes more often. They also spent more time revising the notes that they posted. Most interestingly, students in the online course communities with stronger community levels were more likely to link to and ‘Like’ their classmates’ notes. Furthermore, unlike their peers from online course communities with weaker community levels, students from online course communities with stronger community levels believed that they learned more because they had access to their professor and their peers’ ideas, and also expressed their enjoyment of the online course community discussions. It was also found that instructors from online course communities with stronger community levels were more hands-on than those from online course communities with weaker community levels. Considering these findings, I argue that fostering a sense of community in online course communities enhances social capital through the creation of relationships. This produces better student outcomes, deeper learning and more positive online learning experiences for students.
Source: TSpace (University of Toronto)
Author: Krystle Phirangee
Language: English
Topic: Online and Blended Learning
Subfield: Education
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Quality education
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2591148397