Group Modeling in Social Learning Environments

Abstract

Students'collaboration while learning could provide better learning environments. Collaboration assumes social interactions which occur in student groups. Social theories emphasize positive influence of such interactions on learning. In order to create an appropriate learning environment that enables social interactions, it is important to carefully choose group members. In this paper, a group modeling process designed both to help students learn better and to face problems in introductory programming courses together is described. The group m ode I is supported by graph theory and used in a popular social network environment. The authors conducted action research, analyzed students 'activities and the social environment, all of which provided us with helpful experiences for further research. Research ResultsWe analyze the experiment from two points of view: (i) students' activities and (ii) Facebook as communication enabler.

Is Facebook still a suitable technology‐enhanced learning environment? An updated critical review of the literature from 2012 to 2015

“…In a similar vein, several authors reported that the use of Facebook as an LMS had the potential to engage students even in out‐of‐class discussion with instructors and to increase student motivation, peer learning and feedback (Albayrak & Yildirim, ; Bariş & Tosun, ; Geyer, ; Karal et al, ; Miron & Ravid, ; Musa et al, ; O'Bannon, Beard, & Britt, ; O'Bannon, Britt, & Beard, ; Omar, Embi, & Yunus, ; Öztürk, ; Rachtam, Kaewkitipong, & Firpo, ; Rubrico & Hashim, ; Shih, ; Shraim, ; Souleles, ; Staines & Lauchs, ; Stankov, Glavinić, & Krpan, ; Varol, ; Vincent & Weber, ; Wang, Leng, & Lee, ).…”

SN‐Learning: An exploratory study beyond e‐learning and evaluation of its applications using EV‐SNL framework

“…The advances in information and communications technology and the massive use of Internet have introduced innovative technologies, namely, Web 2.0, which has extensively been used in education (Güler, ; O'Reilly, ). Among the Web 2.0 technologies that are used for educational purposes are forums, blogs, wikis, social media, and social networks (Chunyan et al, ; Güler, ; Milošević et al, ; Stankov, Glavinic, & Krpan, ).…”

Personalized software tutoring and affective human-computer interaction in social networking-based language and open learning

“…In Facebook, the educational material is delivered through the posts where any file type can be attached (text, video, image etc) (Stankov, et al, 2012;Milošević, et al, 2015;Asterhan & Rosenberg, 2015;Sharma, et al, 2016;Güler, 2015;Lin, et al, 2013;Meishar-Tal et al, 2012;Raud, et al, 2012). In the same context, using Twitter, content can be shared and conversations can be followed through appropriate hashtags in tweets Manca, et al, 2014).…”

“…Facebook groups (Stankov, et al, 2012;Asterhan & Rosenberg, 2015;Lin, et al, 2013;Meishar-Tal, et al, 2012) provide a basic authoring tool where administrators can manage the group members and group settings like privacy, posts etc. On the other hand, in applications developed using CMS, like Moodle, teachers can manage the learning material and students by using the appropriate options through a graphical environment.…”

“…Organizing students into groups: the possibility of the system to create groups so that students can work on common projects.Works where students can participate into diverse groups and exchange opinions, information etc with others are inGao (2013), Diigo-based system;Chunyan et al (2014), Edu 2.0-based one; SocialWire(Sousa-Vieira, et al, 2013), Elgg-based one;Stankov et al (2012), Facebook groups organizing their members using a graph theory; and PROEDI(Coutinho & Lisbôa, 2013), an educational social networking platform for the professional development of teachers.Chuang et al (2012) proposed a method for grouping students in order to get better learning results based on friendship, test grades, pairing algorithm and evaluation, whileArndt & Guercio (2011) proposed one based on their connectivity in social networks in order to provide common learning experience. In the same context,Hsu et al (2014) implemented a grouping…”