One of the fastest growing approaches to teaching and learning in the new digital paradigm is the use of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). They are categorised either as cMOOCs following a connectivist approach, or as xMOOCs based on behaviourist principles. However, in xMOOC environments, forums may play a real connectivist role if they are functioning as a community. This paper builds on the criteria of Herring (2004) in order to determine the existence and dynamics of a community. Forum participants, in a connectivist approach, create knowledge together by requesting help, answering questions, discussing concepts and techniques, and suggesting applications and additional learning material. This research questions the existence of a clear distinction between cMOOCs and xMOOCs. It was also observed that gender roles in STEM classes are replicated online. Online teaching nowadays is no longer based on one-way processes but includes users in multi-way processes. These dynamics may be effective in ensuring a strong and well-functioning learning community.

-This paper deals with the ways in whichMassive Open Online Courses (MOOC) participants use course related forums and the contribution of those forums to the learning experience of their virtual students. We focused on the comparison between, on one hand, video content provided by the course organizers and on the other hand, the content provided by user discussions in the forums. Our methodology frame is based on natural sociological inquiry. Video Lectures, as well as the most active forum threads and their posts were collected during a 6 weeks long xMOOC that took place in fall 2013 on a well-known MOOC platform. Content analysis was performed and the study concludes that the forum included a very high level of interactions involving mostly course related exchange of information amongst students, placing this course at the intersection between a constructivist MOOC (cMOOC) and a classical information transmission based MOOC (xMOOC).

No abstract

-This paper builds upon the authors' previous research in which the competency building process of individuals was analyzed in a purely synchronous computer game-based teaching technology. The issue of heterogeneity of speed of adaptation to the learning tool, identified in the synchronous context, is here addressed by introducing the flexibility of an asynchronous format, in which students are given the opportunity to complete the game at their own pace. Experts count game-based teaching amongst the technologies likely to have the largest impact on education over the next five years. Massively Multiplayer Online Games (MMOG) are based on multiple interactions between different humans in virtual worlds. A MMOG teaching game was created in a virtual world. Participant discourses based on written chats were collected and exploited by netnography. Visual data was filmed and analyzed by the semiotics method then compared to the discourse analysis. First results show interesting differences between synchronous and asynchronous modes, in the interaction and collaboration within and across teams.Index Terms -human-computer interactionnetnography -teaching technology -virtual world