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Full-Text Articles in Education

Socio-Emotional Connections: Identity, Belonging And Learning In Online Interactions. A Literature Review, Janine Delahunty, Irina Verenikina, Pauline Jones May 2015

Socio-Emotional Connections: Identity, Belonging And Learning In Online Interactions. A Literature Review, Janine Delahunty, Irina Verenikina, Pauline Jones

Janine Delahunty Dr

This review focuses on three interconnected socio-emotional aspects of online learning: interaction, sense of community and identity formation. In the intangible social space of the virtual classroom, students come together to learn through dialogic, often asynchronous, exchanges. This creates distinctive learning environments where learning goals, interpersonal relationships and emotions are no less important because of their 'virtualness', and for which traditional face-to-face pedagogies are not neatly transferrable. The literature reveals consistent connections between interaction and sense of community. Yet identity, which plausibly and naturally emerges from any social interaction, is much less explored in online learning. While it is widely …


'Who Am I?': Exploring Identity In Online Discussion Forums, Janine Delahunty May 2015

'Who Am I?': Exploring Identity In Online Discussion Forums, Janine Delahunty

Janine Delahunty Dr

Identity became apparent as an important theme while investigating the role of interaction in the asynchronous discussion forums of an online post-graduate TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) education subject. Identity emerged through dialogic choices as students projected an impression of themselves, negotiated their positioning within the group, and established what was valued in this context. Without usual face-to-face meaning making cues, what students post to the forums carry the load of what they mean. Discourse analysis of the initial forums using systemic functional linguistics, provided insights into how identity was being constructed concurrently through interpersonal manoeuvring. This …


Movers And Shapers: Teaching In Online Environments, Janine Delahunty, Pauline Jones, Irina Verenikina May 2015

Movers And Shapers: Teaching In Online Environments, Janine Delahunty, Pauline Jones, Irina Verenikina

Janine Delahunty Dr

This paper reports a study-in-progress examining interactions in the asynchronous discussions of a post-graduate TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) distance subject, focusing on the impact of scaffolding collaborative knowledge construction. Two complementary theories were used: sociocultural theory, which views interaction as essential to the knowledge building process, in particular dialogically between expert-novice, and students as equals; and Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) which highlights language asa meaning-making resource deployed in social interactions and allows insight into the unfolding construal of knowledge and the interpersonal relationships being enacted. The results confirmed the significant role of the instructor in shaping …