Connected Stance in Online Education

Connected Stance

When online interactions are characterized by a high level of participation PLUS a high level of engagement, something magical happens.

I call this magic the Connected Stance.

To gauge whether online interactions (on discussion boards, IMs, e-mails, etc.) happen within the Connected Stance, my colleague and I have been analyzing transcripts of interactions by identifying the moves (or reasons why people use their particular words and what they may be trying to accomplish with their language) and their level of participation (the number of words participants use).

So, we propose that the Connected Stance occurs at the nexus of high participation levels and high engagement levels. During this "Sweet spot" we found students enacting moves like "questioning a peer," "challenging an assumption," "wondering," "connecting to a personal experience," "connecting to an outside text," etc.

The best thing about the Connected Stance is that we can gauge whether students are learning the content, or not. We are investigating the link between the amount of time students spend in the Connected Stance and success harbingers like: final grades, transfer of knowledge to other contexts, or ability to converse about the topic.

Some references for our work:
Wegmann, S. (2009) Interactions Online. In Rogers, P., Berg, G., Boettcher, J., Howard, C., Justice, L., and Schenk, K. (Eds.) Encyclopedia of Distance and Online Learning. Hershey, PA: Information Science Reference. Retrieved March 2, 2009: http://www.igi-global.com/downloads/pdf/Rogers1259.pdf.

Wegmann, S. (2009). “Cross Talk” Online: A Case Study of One Successful Student’s Online Interactions. In B. Olaniran (Ed.) Cases on Successful E-Learning Practices in the Developed and Developing World: Methods for the Global Information Economy. Hershey, PA: IGI .

Wegmann, S., & McCauley, J. (2007) Can you hear us now? Stances toward interaction
and rapport. In Y. Inoue (Ed.), Online Education for Lifelong Learning.Hershey,
PA: Information Science Publishing.

Wegmann, S. (2007). Engaging the Mind through the Fingers: An Analysis of Online
Interaction and Stance, In Falk-Ross, S., Foote, R., Linder, P., Sampson, C., and
Szabo, S. 2006 CRA Yearbook Volume 28.

Wegmann, S., & McCauley, J. (2009). Going Fully Online: Reflections on Creating
an Engaging Environment for Online Learning. International Journal of the
Scholarship of Teaching and Learning.

Wegmann, S. (2008). Tech Savvy Teachers’ stance and the heart of learning: Turning cold technology into a warm embrace. Micronesian Educator, 12. 1-10.