Designs for Online Learning

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Designs for Online Learning

• Internet-based communication, collaborationand
  communityINST 5240Mimi ReckerUtah State
  University

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Internet Communications Tools
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Issues in Online Communication

• Mailing-lists vs. bulletin boards pros and cons?
• Chat tools pros and cons?
• Non-anonymous vs. pseudo-anonymous vs anonymous
  pros and cons?
• Privacy and monitoring?
• Role of moderators?

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Representing discussions

• Star structure
• Tree/threaded structure
• Linear (date, subject or person sorted)

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Representing discussions

• To cope with increasing number of threads, people
  may specialize
• Specialization can lead to community
  fragmentation

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Video/Audio Conferencing

• Conferencing over Internet
• Streaming
• Point-to-point
• Multi-point
• Applications often include chat, whiteboard,
  application sharing, video/audio conferencing.
• Examples Netmeeting, CU-SeeMe, Sorensen Vision,
  ProShare,
• Personal experiences?

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How to make a site sticky?

• Design for
• Active participation
• Interactive learning, peer discussions and
  exchange
• Multiple perspectives
• Navigation spatial metaphor to ease the
  transition from face2face
• Others?

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Design for Learning Communities

• People in virtual communities do just about
  everything people do in real life but we leave
  our bodies behind. --H. Rheingold
• Implications for design?

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Design for Learning Communities

• Create a shared participatory experience
• A shared understood goal
• Mutual respect, tolerance, and trust
• Continuous but not continual communication
• Use formal and informal environments
• Use outsiders for complementary insights and
  information
• Example www.tappedin.org
• How does it create community?