“What’s coming next?” Epistemic curiosity and lurking behavior in online communities

Prior research has repeatedly found that lurkers, the passive members of online communities, dominate such communities in terms of membership. Yet lurking in online communities reflects a phenomenon largely neglected by contemporary information systems theory and research. This study starts by reviewing existing literature on lurking behavior in online communities and identifies an unexplored opportunity related to the nature and origins of lurkers’ behavior, the individual propensity to de-lurk, and the dynamic interplay between lurking and de-lurking behavior. A theoretical process-based framework linking epistemic curiosity to lurking and de-lurking behavior in online communities is presented. This framework links prior academic work on epistemic curiosity as personality trait and emotional–motivational state to lurkers’ contribution behavior in online communities. The article concludes by proposing that the psychology of curiosity in general holds great promise for research on online communities in information systems.     

Students’ participation intention in an online discussion forum: Why is computer-mediated interaction attractive?

Anecdotal evidence indicates that an online discussion forum may not be utilized to its full potential in enhancing the effectiveness and efficiency of teaching due to a lower than expected student participation rate. This paper seeks to identify the motivational behavioral factors influencing students’ intention to participate in an online discussion forums (ODF). Drawing on the literature on social psychology and applying the theory of reasoned action, we develop a conceptual model of intention to participate in an online discussion forum and empirically test the hypotheses in a cross-sectional quantitative survey. The findings indicate that expectancy on hedonic outcome and utilitarian outcome and peer pressure positively influence the participation intention of students. Also, the perceived importance of learning positively moderates the relationship between utilitarian outcome expectancy and participation intention. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.     

Temporal transitions in participation flow in an asynchronous discussion forum

This study examined the overarching issue of how temporal transitions, specifically duration of message flow, affects momentum or wellness of discussion in an asynchronous forum. Quantitative data representing time indicators in discussion activity included posting patterns related to duration (density, intensity, latency, and response count), Day-In topic, day of week, and time of day. Qualitative analysis identified notable spikes or irregularities (i.e., peaks and valleys) in the content level of postings. Results revealed that for open-ended topics (i.e., no specific end date imposed by the instructor), the momentum of forum discussion may be short-term, between 21 and 28 days into the topic. Peaks and valleys subsequent to 31 days were not significant to discussion vitality. Students posted mainly early to mid-week. Time of day had no direct influence on the vitality of the discussion. Strategies for applying temporal transitions in an online forum to motivate and sustain student participation are discussed.     

Non-public and public online community participation: Needs, attitudes and behavior

Nonpublic participation within an online community, often called lurking, occurs when an individual joins a community, but does not post. This study examines the nature of lurking, why people lurk and the differences in attitudes between lurkers and posters. The results indicate significant differences between people who lurk and those who post in an online community. We conclude that when people lurk they are observing, which in no way is a negative behavior. This introverted or passive behavior affects lurkers' attitudes about the benefits of the community, their expectations, and opinions of themselves and others who lurk. In general lurkers are less optimistic and less positive than those who post. Blair Nonnecke is a usability professional and academic with a particular interest in user-centred design and online communities. Blair is an Associate Professor at the University of Guelph where he studies participation in online communities and the usability of in-vehicle navigation devices. His recent research focuses on three areas: survey methods for hard to reach participants, the role participation plays in online learning environments, and factors leading to participation in communities of practice. Dorine Andrews D.C.D. As a specialist in communications design, Dr. Andrews' research and publications focus on both online communities and the implementation of major technology change in organizations. She has taught at Georgetown University's Communications, Culture and Technology program and at the University of Baltimore's School for Interaction Design and Information Architecture. She is now a principal change consultant for RWD Technologies, Inc. headquartered in Baltimore, MD. She can be reached via e-mail at dandrews@rwd.com Jennifer Preece is Professor and Dean of the College of Information Studies at the University of Maryland, USA. Her research and teaching interests focus on human-computer interaction, online communities and social computing. She has authored many papers and books on these topics. Her two most recent books are: Online Communites: “Designing usability, supporting sociability”, and a coauthroed book with Helen Sharp and Yvonne Rogers entiled “Interaction Design: Beyond Human-Computer Interaction”. Both books are published by John Wiley & Sons.     

Qualitative findings of students’ perception on practice of self-regulated strategies in online community discussion

With rapid emergence to the birth of the knowledge era, an active and interactive learning environment is fundamental to any teaching and learning process. Over time, negative implications of traditional learning environment are mounting, and measures must be taken to challenge it. With extensive research on available learning tools, it has become more feasible to provide our students with better learning opportunities. Such was the anticipation in the Malaysian educational context. Hence, this paper aims to address qualitative findings of a study on self-regulated learning strategies conveyed through the proposed interactive e-learning community (iELC). In duration of eight weeks, students (n = 50) from regular national secondary schools were subjected to online learning tasks aimed to advance strategies on self-regulated learning. To date, strategies of self-regulated learning have been perceived as key to learner to succeed academically and after the schooling years. By means of semi-structured interview, data were collected from small group and one-to-one perception. Results were directed at the overall development of self-regulated learning strategies and its diffusion in the iELC discussion platform. Conclusively, these findings add significantly to the understanding of self-regulated learning strategies in an online learning environment.     

Discussing teaching videocases online: Perspectives of preservice and inservice EFL teachers in Taiwan

This study investigated the application of an online videocase discussion community into fostering preservice and inservice EFL (English as a foreign language) teachers’ professional development in Taiwan. This investigation further revealed the nature and development of discussion discourse and the participating teachers’ perceptions of this online learning experience. Also included were potential concerns or difficulties encountered by these community members. There were 21 preservice teachers, 7 secondary school teachers, and 4 university teachers involved in this study. Multiple data collection methods included teaching videos, online discussion messages, interviews, reflection journals, and an open-ended questionnaire. The findings showed that the preservice and inservice teachers appeared to respectively play different roles in discussing teaching videocases online. Yet, what they noticed in the teaching events shifted from diverse to similar focuses after engaging in online videocase discussion for almost one year. These teachers further perceived professional learning opportunities in this community, albeit several issues might hinder some of them from joining the discussion frequently. Pedagogical implications and research suggestions are offered for teacher educators and researchers to further codify and document teacher professional development in various online videocase discussion contexts.     

Student engagement and blended learning: Portraits of risk

The widening participation agenda was instigated by a government seeking to develop skilled workers in the global economy, yet it has consistently refused to fund the burgeoning student population adequately. Managers and academics within the HE sector have to reconcile requirements for the implementation of policies with an increasing ‘audit’ culture and a mass education system. For these stakeholders, perceptions of the benefits of moving aspects of learning online can be attractive. But does this help the widening participation student, struggling to adjust to University life, juggling working to minimise debt and family commitments?     

Writing power into online discussion

This article considers the way in which control of interaction emerges as a function of personal agency and external factors in a group of students engaged in online asynchronous text-based communication in a distance education program. It is structured around the argument that control is partly related to the power that individuals have to give effect to their wishes, but also acknowledges that this sense of agency is always in relation to the powers of others and more structural constraints. A picture emerges of the choices students make in deciding when to initiate discussion and respond to others, and about decisions concerning whose messages they would read and when. The impact of other students, of online groups, and instructors seems to play an important role in determining how participants participate in online interaction. Consideration of broader issues shows how the context in which students engage in interaction impacts the nature and extent of that interaction. The article concludes that being aware, and taking advantage of the socially grounded nature of online interaction provides the basis from which educators can act to ensure that interaction in online learning communities is enabling for the learning of all students.     

Electronic [re]constitution of groups: Group dynamics from face-to-face to an online setting

The authors work as online tutors for a BSc (Hons) physiotherapy programme at Coventry University in the United Kingdom. This paper represents a stage in our developing understanding, over a 3 year period, of the impact of group dynamics on online interaction among physiotherapy students engaged in sharing with their peers their first experiences of clinical practice. The literature exploring online interaction tends to situate meaning either in theories borrowed from conventional face-to-face interaction or on virtual interaction. Research focusing on ‘blended learning’ that combines face-to-face and online interaction is limited in terms of considering how group dynamics impact groups that are constituted and reconstituted in the two very different learning contexts. Using a case study approach, the authors consider how group dynamics change as groups move from face-to-face to online collaboration in pursuit of learning objectives. We characterize typical features of the cases and draw conclusions based on similarities and differences. Findings suggest that group learning is linked to group cohesion, which appears to be mediated by social and cognitive factors that students bring with them. Social presence appears vital to positive group dynamics and is a precursor to cognitive presence, which develops when groups rise above their desire to be sociable and supportive. Group dynamics, whether positive or negative, and their consequent impact on interaction appear to be relatively stable across contexts once the group scene is set through face-to-face interaction. Engagement and interaction of individual students, however, can alter when face-to-face interaction moves online.     

A blended learning Approach to teaching foreign policy: Student experiences of learning through face-to-face and online discussion and their relationship to academic performance

This article presents research on students’ experiences of learning through a blend of face-to-face and online discussion. The participants in our study were students enrolled in a foreign policy course at a major Australian university. Students’ conceptions of learning through discussion, and their approaches to both face-to-face and online discussion, were elicited through open-ended questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. Students’ responses to both open-ended questionnaires and interviews were analysed using a phenomenographic framework. Qualitative variations in students’ conceptions and approaches were categorised and were found to form a hierarchy. Subsequent quantitative analysis found associations between students’ conceptions of learning through discussion, their approaches to both face-to-face and online discussion and their academic performance (as indicated by the final mark for the course). Implications for teaching and further research are discussed.     

Structured and unstructured discussion forums as tools for student engagement

Online discussion forums as teaching tools are becoming increasingly popular in college classrooms. The manner in which they are designed (and in particular, the amount of structure imposed) can affect how engaging of an activity it is for students. The current study analyzed responses to structured and unstructured discussion forums to determine how each impacted student engagement (specifically by studying the use of feedback, modeling, and empowerment). Results found students to respond positively to both forums, but structured forums were generally perceived to be more engaging. The nature of “structure” in forums is discussed, as well as how it can be manipulated to promote student engagement.     

Understanding lurkers in online communities: A literature review

In internet culture, lurkers are a special group of website users who regularly login to online communities but seldom post. This study aims to provide an overall understanding of lurkers by explaining the definition of lurkers, discussing the reasons for lurking and providing suggestions on de-lurking. To understand the reason for lurking, this study first explains why people participate in online communities by building an integrated model of motivational factors of online behaviors. This model classifies motivational factors into four categories: the nature of the online community, individual characteristics, the degree of commitment and quality requirement. Based on this model, four types of lurking reasons are identified: environmental influence, personal preference, individual-group relationship and security consideration. Finally, several strategies for motivating participation in online communities are provided, including external stimuli, improved user-friendliness, encouragement of participation and guidance for newcomers.     

Knowledge hoarding and user acceptance of online discussion board systems in eLearning: A case study

This paper aims to reveal the determinants of the effectiveness of online discussion board systems (ODBSs) in eLearning environments to foster the interactions among the learners and/or instructors. A case in which an ODBS failed to foster the interactions among learners/instructors for knowledge sharing is introduced and hypotheses to explain the failure are developed based on thorough literature review in technology acceptance model (TAM) and knowledge hoarding. The hypotheses are tested via statistical analysis on the data collected from a questionnaire survey against the students who actually involved in the case study. The result shows that the low perceived usefulness of the ODBS by the students played major role in the failure of the system. Also it is hinted that network externalities as an intrinsic motivator is more effective than extrinsic motivators to increase the students’ activities on the ODBS. Finally the paper provides the designers of eLearning systems with advice for successful operation of ODBS in eLearning.     

Engaging online learners: The impact of Web-based learning technology on college student engagement

Widespread use of the Web and other Internet technologies in postsecondary education has exploded in the last 15 years. Using a set of items developed by the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE), the researchers utilized the hierarchical linear model (HLM) and multiple regressions to investigate the impact of Web-based learning technology on student engagement and self-reported learning outcomes in face-to-face and online learning environments. The results show a general positive relationship between the use the learning technology and student engagement and learning outcomes. We also discuss the possible impact on minority and part-time students as they are more likely to enroll in online courses.     

Student teacher communication and performance during a clinical experience supported by a technology-enhanced cognitive apprenticeship

This study is the third in a series of design-based research on a technology-enhanced cognitive apprenticeship (TECA) that uses a variety of technology (e.g. video, discussion boards, performance support) to support triad member activity during the clinical experience. The purpose of this study was to examine the differences in communication and performance among student teachers who participated in the TECA during a year-long clinical experience and those who did not. Overall, performance scores were higher among students in the TECA; planning scores were higher at a statistically significant level. Communication reports suggest that online discussions through both public and private channels contributed to these results. Findings were consistent with prior studies of the TECA and supported the efficacy of key design elements. Implications for teacher education and the design of TECAs are discussed.     

Empowering processes in online support groups among people living with HIV/AIDS: A comparative analysis of ‘lurkers’ and ‘posters’

The proliferation of online support groups provides an opportunity for individuals living with HIV/AIDS to obtain support online. The present study aimed to explore how different levels of participation in online support groups are associated with empowering processes and outcomes for individuals living with HIV/AIDS. A total of 340 individuals living with HIV/AIDS were recruited. They completed an online questionnaire consisting of measures on satisfaction with online support groups, empowering processes, self-care self efficacy, loneliness, optimism, coping, depression, and health-related quality of life. Results revealed that compared to posters, members who only read the messages (lurkers) scored lower in receiving social support and receiving useful information in empowering processes, and lower in satisfaction with their relationship with group members. They also scored higher in distraction and lower in planning in the brief COPE. In addition, they scored lower in social function and higher in energy. There were no significant differences in self-care self efficacy, loneliness, depression, or optimism between posters and lurkers. Our results suggest that lurking in the online support groups may be as empowering as reading and posting messages to the groups. More research is needed to identify the long term effects of online support group use.     

Cognitive presence in asynchronous online learning: a comparison of four discussion strategies

Some scholars argue that students do not achieve higher level learning, or cognitive presence, in online courses. Online discussion has been proposed to bridge this gap between online and face‐to‐face learning environments. However, the literature indicates that the conventional approach to online discussion – asking probing questions – does not necessarily advance the discussion through the phases of cognitive presence: triggering events, exploration, integration and resolution, which are crucial for deep knowledge construction. Using mixed methods, we examined the contribution of four scenario‐based online discussion strategies – structured, scaffolded, debate and role play – to the learners' cognitive presence, the outcome of the discussion. Learners' discussion postings within each strategy were segmented and categorized according to the four phases. The discussion strategies, each using the same authentic scenario, were then compared in terms of the number of segments representing these phases. We found that the structured strategy, while highly associated with triggering events, produced no discussion pertaining to the resolution phase. The scaffolded strategy, on the other hand, showed a strong association with the resolution phase. The debate and role‐play strategies were highly associated with exploration and integration phases. We concluded that discussion strategies requiring learners to take a perspective in an authentic scenario facilitate cognitive presence, and thus critical thinking and higher levels of learning. We suggest a heuristic for sequencing a series of discussion forums and recommend areas for further related research.     

Encouraging college student active engagement in learning: Student response methods and anonymity

The purpose of this study was to examine the role of anonymity in encouraging college students to be more cognitively engaged in lectures. Kinesiology majors from three universities were asked to respond to questions during two consecutive lectures using response methods of opposing degrees of anonymity, one using ‘clickers’ and the other using hand‐raising. Participation and comprehension rates were statistically significantly different following the use of the different response methods (*p = 0.000 and *p < 0.001, respectively). Participant survey responses revealed insight into student perceptions regarding the role of anonymity in encouraging their cognitive engagement during each of the lectures. From participant comments, four major dimensions emerged suggesting the anonymity of using clickers (a) increased participation; (b) influenced cognitive engagement; (c) allowed for normative comparisons and (d) allowed for more processing time.