Read Only Participants
Running head: READ ONLY PARTICIPANTS
Read only participants case study summary
Dwayne J. Smith
Grand Canyon University: UNV 504
11 February 2012
Read only participants case study summary The “Read-only participants: a case for student communication in online classes” was a study on who are the read-only participate and how they impact in a negative way with the online learning community. A read only participant is participants who only read over discussions in a discussion forum and possibly use other’s discussion answers in their own answers/posts. The online learning community feels discontent for these read only participants because they are absent from group assignments and they usually make simple and incomplete contributions. This study was done to show how online activity and discussion postings related to the learning process and course completion. The data collected was a mixed methodology approach. The data did show a significant difference between online participation and course performance. There were some unexplained trends in the study, but for the most part the study showed a positive trend toward participation and student success. To deter the read-only participants in the online learning community, the authors made several suggestions. The examples were; requiring a number of postings, encouraging high quality postings(thoughtful), grade the discussion and give clear feedback, rotate members through a group project(this will make the absentee participant accountable), supplement online assignments with non-online assignments, the read-only skimmer and discussion stealer will have to have an independent thought.
References
Nagel, L., Blignaut, A., Cronje, J. (2009). Read-only participants: a case for student communication in online classes. Interactive Learning Environments, 17(1),
Read only participants case study summary
Dwayne J. Smith
Grand Canyon University: UNV 504
11 February 2012
Read only participants case study summary The “Read-only participants: a case for student communication in online classes” was a study on who are the read-only participate and how they impact in a negative way with the online learning community. A read only participant is participants who only read over discussions in a discussion forum and possibly use other’s discussion answers in their own answers/posts. The online learning community feels discontent for these read only participants because they are absent from group assignments and they usually make simple and incomplete contributions. This study was done to show how online activity and discussion postings related to the learning process and course completion. The data collected was a mixed methodology approach. The data did show a significant difference between online participation and course performance. There were some unexplained trends in the study, but for the most part the study showed a positive trend toward participation and student success. To deter the read-only participants in the online learning community, the authors made several suggestions. The examples were; requiring a number of postings, encouraging high quality postings(thoughtful), grade the discussion and give clear feedback, rotate members through a group project(this will make the absentee participant accountable), supplement online assignments with non-online assignments, the read-only skimmer and discussion stealer will have to have an independent thought.
References
Nagel, L., Blignaut, A., Cronje, J. (2009). Read-only participants: a case for student communication in online classes. Interactive Learning Environments, 17(1),
References: Nagel, L., Blignaut, A., Cronje, J. (2009). Read-only participants: a case for student communication in online classes. Interactive Learning Environments, 17(1), 37-51