Social Navigation and Learning in Online Communities

Description

Nowadays, informal learning and opinion formation often take place in online communities. However, the amount of contributions in online forums can be so large that identifying high quality entries poses a problem. In order to facilitate the learning potential that online forums offer, the project analyzes the dynamics and processes of real online discussion forums. On this basis, social navigation mechanisms like filtering tools and visualizations of contributions are implemented and experimentally investigated. The goal of these support mechanisms is to provide orientation to authors and readers of an online discussion, and to facilitate the use of online forums. Moreover, the influence of support mechanisms on the elaboration of content and the participation in online discussions are investigated.

Cooperations

• University of Duisburg-Essen, Fachgebiet Psychologische Forschungsmethoden: Interaktive Medien und Systeme
• University of Tübingen, Department of Computer Science
• Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW) Mannheim, Germany

Publications

• Buder, J. (2011). Group awareness tools for learning: Current and future directions. Computers in Human Behavior, 27, 1114-1117. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2010.07.012
• Buder, J., & Schwind, C. (2012). Learning with personalized recommender systems: A psychological view. Computers in Human Behavior, 28, 207-216. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2011.09.002
• Buder, J., Schwind, C., Rudat, A., & Bodemer, D. (2013). Navigating through controversial online discussions: The influence of visualized ratings. To See the World and a Grain of Sand: Learning across Levels of Space, Time, and Scale: CSCL 2013 Conference Proceedings (Vol. I, pp. 65-72). Madison, USA: International Society of the Learning Sciences.