Norman, D. (2013). A Case Study Using the Community of Inquiry Framework to Analyze Online Discussions in WordPress and Blackboard in a Graduate Course. (Master’s thesis, University of Calgary). Retrieved from https://ancient.darcynorman.net/darcynorman.net/2016/thesis
TL;DR: students basically did what teacher asked them to do, without really caring what platform they were using.
Abstract:
Online discussions in a graduate level education course were compared using the Community of Inquiry framework and a Classroom Community survey within a mixed methods case study with concurrent triangulation of data sources. Discussion posts were published in two separate software applications: WordPress and Blackboard. Data collected included online discussion metadata, Community of Inquiry coding of online discussion content, survey responses from students, and an interview with the instructor to identify pedagogical decisions made in the design of the course. Content analysis of the discussion archives described differences in posts published to the two platforms, as well as differences in simultaneous indications of Community of Inquiry presences over time. Five new online discussion timeline visualization methods are presented. Key findings include an emphasis on pedagogical design over software selection in facilitating rich online discussions in the context of a graduate level course, although selection of software may provide signals to participants regarding the instructor’s expectations. Recommendations for reproducing similar research, identification of areas for future research, and recommendations for practice are provided.
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Key Figures
Figure 2.1. Connections between concepts used in this research.
Figure 4.3. Timeline of posting activity by day of course, for WordPress and Blackboard discussions (official course period in grey).
Figure 4.5. Online discussion activity in WordPress (official course period indicated in grey).
Figure 4.6. Online discussion activity in Blackboard (official course period indicated in grey).
Figure 4.13. Community of Inquiry presence indications in WordPress discussion posts by day of course (official course period indicated in grey).
Figure 4.14. Community of Inquiry presence indications in Blackboard discussion posts, by day of course (official course period indicated in grey).
Figure 4.15. Number of simultaneous presences shown across all posts per day in WordPress vs. Blackboard (official course period indicated in grey).
Well, I couldn’t leave my gmail address, but I guess the blogspot blogger address is a dead give-away, I staked my lot early on with google. I’ve been studying instructional technology since the mid 80s having paid my dues as an 8th grade Language Arts teacher. I remember your name from my grad studies at UTAustin, and I just wanted to say thanks for sharing your research and believing that life-long-learning is something that should be subsidized. Love the diagrams and scatter plots. Head First is my favorite tech doc publisher.
Cheers, and thanks,
Jill Frazier
Instructional Designer