What Affects Engagement in an Educational Online Community? Investigating a Blended Learning Course for Primary School Teachers Undertaking Postgraduate Professional Development

Abstract

articipating in e-learning communities is a valuable way of enhancing teachers’ professional development (PD). However, teachers’ engagement with asynchronous online platforms can be affected by feelings of anxiety, a perceived lack of connection to others and technology issues. The purpose of this study was to investigate the factors that affect students’ engagement with e-learning communities through asynchronous Blackboard Discussion Boards (BBDBs) in a blended PD course for primary school teachers. Using a case study approach produced rich data through the use of focus groups and interviews to explore students’ and tutors’ perceptions of the BBDBs, and their preferences for online and face-to-face learning.

The overall finding revealed that participants’ engagement with online communities is affected by several interrelated factors, some of which distinctly relate to being human (i.e. emotions, relationships, power relations, agency, prior experiences and personality), whilst other factors relate to the usability of technology. These factors influenced the participants’ engagement with both the BBDBs and other online platforms. Additionally, this research identified that students created e-learning communities using social media platforms, which were a valuable source of professional, academic and personal support. This thesis contributes to the pedagogy and theory of e-learning communities through identifying several crucial elements which support the conditions required for people to make meaning with others through online communication. Through conceptualising online communication as a social literacy practice and closely examining how students experience the practices of face-to-face and online communication, this research extends the Literacies for Learning in Further Education framework, offering a contribution to the field of social literacy studies. Furthermore, through discovering that several complex interrelated human responses impact on people’s entanglement with others through online platforms, this thesis offers a contribution to the growing body of literature on posthumanism in digital education. These conclusions may be useful to educators who are designing online or blended learning courses in terms of understanding the factors that are crucial for meaningful engagement and learning.