Knowledge generation in online forums: a case study in the German educational domain

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to get a first approximation of the usefulness of online forums with regard to information seeking and knowledge generation. Design/methodology/approach – This study captures the characteristics of knowledge generation by examining the pragmatics and types of information needs of posted questions and by investigating knowledge related characteristics of discussion posts as well as the success of communication. Three online forums were examined. The data set consists of 55 threads, containing 533 posts which were categorized manually by two researchers. Findings – Results show that questioners often ask for personal estimations. Information needs often aim for actionable insights or uncertainty reduction. With regard to answers, factual information is the dominant content type and has the highest knowledge value as it is the strongest predictor with regard to the generation of new knowledge. Opinions are also relevant, but in a rather subsequent and complementary way. Emotional aspects are scarcely observed. Overall, results indicate that knowledge creation predominantly follows a socio-cultural paradigm of knowledge exchange. Research limitations/implications – Although the investigation captures important aspects of knowledge building processes, the measurement of the forums’ knowledge value is still rather limited. Success is only partly measurable with the current scheme. The central coding category “new topical knowledge” is only of nominal value and therefore not able to compare different kinds of knowledge gains in the course of discussion. Originality/value – The investigation reaches out beyond studies that do not consider that the role and relevance of posts is dependent on the state of the discussion. Furthermore, the paper integrates two perspectives of knowledge value: the success of the questioner with regard to the expressed information need and the knowledge building value for communicants and readers.

The Role of Online Discussion Forums in Newcomers' Labour Market Integration in Canada

“…The number of threads (i.e., discussion topics) and posts (i.e., replies) increased by about 37% and 31% respectively as well. Online discussion forums have been examined in several areas of research, including education (e.g., Griesbaum et al, 2015;Seethamraju, 2014), health (e.g., Brady et al, 2016;Lee, 2017;Kim and Sundar, 2016;Moore and Ayers, 2017;Pan et al, 2017), and psychology (e.g., McKiernan et al, 2017;Tabor and Milfont, 2013;Zhao and Basnyat, 2018). Although the process of global migration and importance of employment on newcomers' adjustment has been researched extensively and for several decades (e.g., Boyd, 1989;Choldin, 1973;Crowley-Henry, 2013;Dietz et al, 2015;Guo and Al Ariss, 2015;Hansen, 2012;Massey et al, 1993;Reitz et al, 2014;Taylor, 1999), there is a lack of international business research using data from online forums and our understanding of the role of online forums in newcomers' labour market integration in a new environment is very limited (Caidi et al, 2014;Tabor and Milfont, 2013).…”

“…For example, students interacting and exchanging information in online forum discussions showed better understanding of the material (e.g., Badia et al, 2011;Griesbaum et al, 2015;Zhu, 2006). Jahnke (2010) also suggests that interactions in online forums can facilitate students' collaborative learning and improve their learning outcomes.…”

“…Online forums are important information sources for newcomers as they allow not only searching for specific information, but also enable interactive discussions and exchanges with other users by posting specific questions or topics for discussion in online discussion forums and by replying within extant discussions. This allows newcomers to connect and seek needed information and advice from users with the relevant local knowledge and experience (Caidi et al, 2014;Chien, 2005;Griesbaum et al, 2015;Kim and Yoon, 2012). To a certain extent, online forums can be regarded as virtual social networks where users communicate and develop virtual ties (Caidi et al, 2014;Chien, 2005;Kim and Sundar, 2016).…”

“…For example, in the USA, about 20% of online users regularly use online forums (Pendry and Salvatore, 2015). Online forums differ from traditional websites and passive web searches in that they allow interactive communication and exchange of information with other users (Griesbaum et al, 2015), facilitate collaborative learning and knowledge creation (DeSanctis et al, 2003;Hall and Graham, 2004;Rabbany et al, 2014;Sundararajan, 2010), and enable the formation of virtual communities which can provide emotional support (Kim and Yoon, 2012;Kim and Sundar, 2016;Tabor and Milfont, 2013).…”

“…This study draws on extant literature on newcomers' adjustment and labour market integration (e.g., Adelman 1988; Black et al, 1991;Farh et al, 2010;Guo and Al Ariss, 2015;Sidani and Al Ariss, 2014;Tung, 2016), information practices of newcomers (e.g., Caidi et al, , 2010Savolainen, 2007Savolainen, , 2008Savolainen, , 2016, online knowledge exchange, sharing and construction (e.g., Chalkiti and Sigala, 2008;Griesbaum et al, 2015;Nonaka, 1994;Nor et al, 2010), social support (e.g., Cutrona, 1990;Cutrona and Russell, 1990;Farh et al, 2010;Podsiadlowski et al, 2013;Stroppa and Spieß, 2011;Van Bakel et al, 2017), and online technology affordances (e.g., Majchrzak et al, 2013;Treem and Leonardi, 2012) to contribute to an emerging literature concerned with online technology use and newcomers' adjustment (e.g., Mikal et al, 2013Mikal et al, , 2015Nardon et al, 2015) and international careers (e.g., Al Ariss et al, 2013Ariss et al, , 2014Al Ariss and Syed, 2011;Cascio and Boudreau, 2016;Fang et al, 2013;Farh et al, 2010;Kuhn and Mansour, 2014).…”