Learning through computer‐mediated communication: a comparison of Australian and Chinese heritage students

Smith, Peter; Coldwell, Jo; Smith, Swee Noi; Murphy, Karen L.

doi:10.1080/14703290500062441

Cited by 31 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…Some studies (e.g., Al-Harthi, 2005;Bing & Ai-Ping, 2008;Smith et al, 2005;Smith & Smith, 1999;Wang, 2007) showed that learners from strong uncertainty avoidance cultures are threatened by learning situations that are unstructured and unclear. They expect formal rules to guide their behavior.…”

Section: What Implications Do These Studies Suggest For Practice?mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The findings indicated that compared to their Australian peers, Chinese students were less engaged in critical thinking in their posts. Smith et al (2005) noted that "the lower number of intellectual postings may not indicate that these students had less to say, but that they were constrained in saying it, possibly further compounded by the fact that the discussion was in English" (p. 131). This study also found that Chinese students displayed a higher level of anxiety in ALNs than their Australian counterparts over issues such as course requirements and assessment, and they showed a strong need for transparency in course structure.…”

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“…Below, these studies and their key findings will be discussed briefly. Smith, Coldwell, Smith, and Murphy"s (2005) survey research explored the similarities and differences between Australian and Chinese undergraduate students" engagement in online discussions. The findings indicated that compared to their Australian peers, Chinese students were less engaged in critical thinking in their posts.…”

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IRRODL Volume 10, Number 3

Authors

2009

IRRODL

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As usual, the subject and research methods employed in the articles are heterogeneous, though all content has a focus on distance education. Ten of the articles relate to innovations in teaching and learning in distance contexts. Issues covered include synchronous technologies, multimedia training in industry contexts, web conferencing in high schools, strategies to create online group collaboration, and effective and ineffective instructor behaviours. We also have two very interesting conceptual pieces, one on the role of culture in online learning and the other highlighting the effect of transparency on cooperative learning. The issue begins with two excellent articles relating directly to distance education research. The first presents the results of a Delhi study in which international experts prioritized distance education research issues and trends. The second is an article that provides a ranking system and the results when it is used to assess computer-mediated learning journals. I confess that I cannot resist bringing to your attention that IRRODL rates as the top-ranked journal amongst 46 contenders!! The ratings game, while potentially both ego boosting and deflating for editors and authors, has very serious implications in academia. Enormous attention is placed in tenure and promotion hearings on not only the number of publications a scholar produces but also on the quality of the journals in which this work appears. Unfortunately, like many other measures of quality, determining the quality (often referred to as "impact factor") of scholarly journals raises many issues including the validity of the results, the reliability of the measurement scales, and the effect of regional, linguistic, and pecuniary bias. Much work has been done to create valid indexes of journal quality, and Elbeck"s and Mandernach"s (this issue) innovative assessment strategies add to this literature. The digitization of articles and their accessibility on the web (either through subscription to databases of commercial publications or through open access) creates opportunity for new metrics to calculate impact. These include the number of downloads and links from other Editorial -The Ratings Game Anderson 2 sources. However, citation of the work by one"s peers remains the most credible measurement of impact.Thus, I was very pleased to bump into the work of Australian researcher Anne-Wil Harzing and the interesting tool she has developed and released freely for non-commercial use. The downloadable tool, "Publish or Perish," uses the Google Scholar database to aggregate the number of articles and the number of times they have been cited by others. These citation numbers are then used to calculate an "impact factor" of both individual authors and journals. The tool also provides a number of algorithms that attempt to resolve the problem of multiple authors and also allow one to restrict publications used in the calculations by date or subject matter. Although Google Scholar"s data collection methods remain clouded in commercial ob...

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Section: What Implications Do These Studies Suggest For Practice?mentioning

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IRRODL Volume 10, Number 3

Authors

2009

IRRODL

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“…They indicated that Asian students (mostly from Confucian-heritage culture) were reluctant to participate in online discussions. Smith, Coldwell, Smith, and Murphy (2005) conducted a comparative study exploring student online learning behavior between Chinese and Australian students at an Australian university. They found that although these two groups of students demonstrated similar attitudes towards self-managed learning, the Chinese cohort was less comfortable with online learning, more reluctant to communicate with others, and contributed fewer online messages to class discussions.…”

Section: Online Educationmentioning

confidence: 99%

IRRODL Volume 14, Number 4

Authors

2013

IRRODL

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thanks to our colleague Dr. Terry Anderson who has steered the IRRODL ship so energetically and astutely for the past 10 years. Terry's leadership has placed IRRODL in the forefront of our field's academic journals and Rory and I will work hard to maintain the level of quality that you have come to expect. And quantity! Volume 14, Issue 4 offers readers 14 research articles and one leadership note from all corners of the globe -a splendid feature that has become a hallmark of this journal.In a fitting opening to such a large and varied issue, the UK's Alan Tait, a familiar voice in our field, presents a framework of ideas drawing in particular on the capability approaches proposed by Amartya Sen in order to analyse theories of development and social justice that are claimed or may be inherent in the mission statements of 12 of the world's leading open universities. Supporting his premise with references to similar large-scope works by colleagues such as Rumble, Daniel, Bowles and Gintis as well as his own previous work, and citing incidents from institutions such as the Commonwealth of Learning and UNESCO, he concludes that reviewing institutions' statements of purpose and strategy will help them rise above operational levels that are potentially rhetorical.Wayne Atchley, Gary Wingenbach, and Cindy Akers from Texas tackle another recurring topic in our field, that of comparing completion and performance between traditional and online courses. Recalling Russell's well-known "no significant difference" study (2001), the authors found that there were differences in completion rates among disciplines; however, student characteristics such as age, gender, ethnicity, classification, major, and experience with online course delivery were not considered in this research, and more study will be necessary to further understand the nature of learning in the many formats available to us today. The critically important issues of online community, empowerment and engagement are also at the heart of Yu-Chang Hsu and Yu-Hui Ching's article on non-programmer adult learners' experience with mobile apps. Hsu and Ching found that students appreciated the rich level of peer support in their virtual learning community and they conclude that their study shows the educational value of mobile app design activities, and the possibility and practicality of teaching/learning mobile app design online.In exploring the application of another current platform, Scott P. Anstadt, ShannonBradley, and Ashley Burnette surveyed users of educationally and health focused SIMS (simulations) to discover what motivates their Second Life (SL) and real life (RL)interactions in several areas, potentially addressing the future role of educating social work students regarding research methodology in online virtual reality interactions.Implications for social work are discussed including engaging clients using incentives for social participation built into the SL milieu.In keeping with Tait's "let's examine our institutional Mann Hyung Hur and Yeonwook Im, als...

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“…Likewise students' perceptions of e-learning have been explored (see for example Coldwell, Craig, & Goold, 2006;Keller & Cernerud, 2002). Other studies have focused on the evaluation of particular courses where online learning environments (OLEs) are used (Goold & Coldwell, 2005;Smith, Coldwell, Smith, & Murphy, 2005); or on investigating and evaluating tools and features used in OLEs, as a whole or by particular student cohorts (Herrington & Oliver, 2002).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Perceptions of Roles and Responsibilities in Online Learning: A Case Study

Craig¹,

Goold²,

Coldwell

et al. 2008

IJELL

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The extensive introduction of online technologies to support teaching and learning is impacting how teachers teach and students learn. It is also affecting both teaching staff's and students' perceptions of what each others' roles are. The research reported here is part of a larger study that explored different aspects of teaching and learning in online environments. This study was undertaken within an Australian university and involved an institution-wide survey of students. The paper reports on students' perceptions of their roles as online learners and the expectations they have of online teachers. The outcomes of the research suggest that different cohorts of students have different expectations. These expectations are informed by their mode of study and also by their perceptions of how staff engage with online teaching. Recommendations include proactive management of student expectations by staff, as well as a commitment by staff to meet those expectations.

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Learning through computer‐mediated communication: a comparison of Australian and Chinese heritage students

Cited by 31 publications

References 8 publications

IRRODL Volume 10, Number 3

IRRODL Volume 10, Number 3

IRRODL Volume 14, Number 4

Perceptions of Roles and Responsibilities in Online Learning: A Case Study

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