Social Presence and Transactional Distance as an Antecedent to Knowledge Sharing in Virtual Learning Communities

Abstract

Today, the use of social network-based virtual learning communities is increasing rapidly in terms of knowledge management. An important dynamic of knowledge management processes is the knowledge sharing behaviors (KSB) in community. The purpose of this study is to examine the KSB of the students in a Facebook-based virtual community created within the scope of a class in terms of their social presence (SP) and transactional distance (TD) perceptions. Both SP and TD are important factors in the creation of a community feeling and in the interaction of the participants, and it is believed that these two factors will effect KSB in virtual communities. Data were gathered from 217 university students by using three scales: the KSB scale, the SP scale (subdimensions: interaction, ownership, and affective statements) and the TD scale (subdimensions: student-student [S-S] interaction, student-teacher [S-T] interaction, student-content [S-C] interaction, student-interface [S-I] interaction, and student-environment [S-E] interaction). The structural equation modeling showed that students' KSB were related to their SP and TD perceptions in the process of utilizing virtual learning communities. The results of the study indicate that each subdimension of SP and TD scales are significant predictors on KSB. Further researches and implications are explained and discussed.

Development of Risk Breakdown Structure for Online Learning Project during COVID-19 Crisis

“…These two findings may be caused by the limited features of the application to communicate or the ability of the application's users to communicate using an online platform. These findings support the importance of handling the transactional distance factor or communication gap that occurs in virtual or online environments (Yilmaz, 2017). The communication gap was also mentioned as one of the problems in the application of online lectures during a pandemic by several prior researches (Cortez, 2020;Crawford et al, 2020).…”

“…Student participants also considered that the lecturers' presentations in online classes were more difficult to understand than through face-to-face classes. This risk is referred to as transactional distance, where there is miscommunication that occurs between teachers, students, and the content being taught because of the limited communication media used (Yilmaz, 2017). Majority of student participants and student parents expressed this issue as a risk for future online studies.…”

Assigned Roles as a Structuring Tool in Online Discussion Groups: Comparison of Transactional Distance and Knowledge Sharing Behaviors

“…Students’ transactional distance perception toward online discussion is an important factor regarding the efficiency of these environments. Studies reveal that transactional distance perception is influenced by the type of interaction and its structure (Karaoglan Yilmaz, 2017a, 2017b; Yilmaz & Keser, 2017). Ekwunife-Orakwue and Teng’s (2014) research also indicates that transactional distance perception may change according to the quality of student–student, student–teacher, and student–content interactions in online discussions and the interface and features used for the online discussions.…”

“…In a study by Salmon (2004), it was found that only one third of the students in online discussions made a contribution, only one third read what was written, and the remainder never participated. According to researchers, the fact that the number of students participating in the online discussions is low and the sense of community lacking may be related to the fact that students’ transactional distance perceptions are high, and the quality of their knowledge sharing behaviors is low (Karaoglan Yilmaz, 2017a, 2017b; Remesal & Colomina, 2013; Rovai, 2007; Xie, Yu, & Bradshaw, 2014). Therefore, measures should be taken to decrease transactional distance perception of the students in online discussions and increase their knowledge sharing behaviors.…”

Impact of Open Innovation Communities on Enterprise Innovation Performance: A System Dynamics Perspective

“…In an OIC, individuals often need to be externally recognized and rewarded. Peer recognition triggers individual motivation, and communities with good innovation performance often provide users with opportunities to win peer recognition [66].…”