"How do educational conversations work anyway? Studying learning in the presence of technology can be a catalyst for asking more fundamental questions about learning in general. It takes a special skill set to study these kinds of issues--someone equally comfortable with technology and with learning, with qualitative methods and quantitative. And few people have mastered that range of skills as well as Jim Hudson. In this book, Dr. Hudson applies those interdisciplinary talents to ask some important and fundamental questions. To shed light on things we rarely see because they are so familiar. Teachers, educational researchers, and educational technologists will all find this account interesting and useful, especially for the questions it asks." - Professor Amy Bruckman, Georgia Institute of Technology

James M. Hudson earned his Ph.D. in Computer Science from the Georgia Institute of Technology where his research focused on understanding and promoting effective collaboration through the design of socio-technical systems. Dr. Hudson’s research has looked at this topic in a number of specific domains, including online educational discussions, interruption in work and home settings, distributed collaboration in safety-critical environments, and the ethics of online research.

Currently, Dr. Hudson is a Senior User Experience Researcher with PayPal, an eBay, Inc. company, where he applies these skills toward helping PayPal provide its customers with an industry-leading user experience.

List of Tables

List of Figures

Foreword

Preface

Acknowledgments

Abbreviations

Chapter 1. Chatrooms and Learning Behaviors

1.1. The Challenge of Online Learning

1.2. Research Questions

1.2.1. Conversational Equity: A Case Study

1.2.2. Discussion Quality: A Quasi-Experimental Study

1.3. Looking Forward

Chapter 2. Chatrooms and Small Group Learning

2.1. Chatrooms and Small Group Learning

2.2. The Uniqueness of Text-Based Chat

2.2.1. Linguistic Features of Chat Conversations

2.2.2. Behavioral Features of Chat Conversations

2.2.2.1. Self-Awareness

2.3. Important Learning Behaviors

2.3.1. The Importance of Conversational Equity

2.3.1.1. Social Status and Inhibition

2.3.1.2. An Interesting Domain: Foreign Language Learning

2.3.2. The Importance of Perspective Taking

2.3.2.1. An Interesting Domain: Professional Ethics Education

2.4. Learning with Technology

Chapter 3. Explaining Equity: A Case Study

3.1. Questioning the Causes of Behavioral Changes

3.2. Participation Patterns in Foreign Language Learning

3.2.1. Conversational Dynamics

3.2.1.1. Prof. Sagnier

3.2.1.2. Prof. Poulain

3.2.2. An Aside: New Social Expectations

3.3. Explaining Behavioral Changes

3.3.1. The Bystander Effect: A Lens for Understanding Participation

3.3.2. Case Study: Participation in IRC Français

3.4. Discussion

3.4.1. Learning

3.4.2. Self-Awareness

3.4.3. Social Cues

3.4.4. Blocking

3.4.5. Diffuse Responsibility

3.5. Alternative Explanations

3.6. Summary

Chapter 4. Interaction Quality: A Quasi-Experimental Study

4.1. Studying “Quality”

4.1.1. Defining “Quality”

4.2. The Research Setting: CS 4001

4.2.1. The Role of Small Group Discussion

4.2.2. A Typical Class Session

4.2.2.1. Arrival

4.2.2.2. Introductory Lecture

4.2.2.3. Small Group Discussion

4.2.2.4. Wrap-Up/Report Out

4.2.3. The Everyday Problems of Participation in CS 4001

4.2.3.1. Too Little Time

4.2.3.2. Class Size

4.2.3.3. Motivation

4.2.4. Behavioral Changes in Online Pilot Studies

4.3. Quasi-Experimental Method

4.3.1. Data Collected

4.3.2. Quantifying “Quality”

4.3.3. Developing a Standard of Comparison

4.3.4. “Grading” the Discussions

4.3.5. Relative Versus Absolute Scores

4.4. Results

4.4.1. Media Effects Matter Relatively Little

4.4.2. Use of Perspectives and Evidence

4.4.3. Time on Task

4.4.4. Complicating Factors

4.5. Summary

Chapter 5. Designing Better Online Learning Environments

5.1. The Challenge of Online Learning

5.2. Key Findings of this Research

5.2.1. Conversational Dominance

5.2.2. Quality of Discussion Content

5.2.3. Efficiency of Conversational Medium

5.3. On Synchronicity

5.4. Implications for Designers

5.5. Future Directions

Appendix A: Discussion Topics and Aggregated Answers

A.1. Privacy and Blogs (Day 1)

A.2. Employees Accessing Private Information (Day 2)

A.2.1. Scenario 1

A.2.2. Scenario 2

A.3. Employee Monitoring (Day 3)

A.4. New Technologies for Law Enforcement (Day 4)

A.4.1. Scenario 1

A.4.2. Scenario 2

Appendix B: Discussion Transcripts

B.1. A “Good” Discussion

B.2. A “Poor” Discussion

References

Index