I like the fact that research was carried out to backup the researchers’ claims, and it strives to show how students respond or behave in different environments. They use an important tool that is critical for any research’s success, which is making use of relevant valid past research that will allow them to draw parallels and contrast, to come up with credible results.
Kim’s study mirrors the fact that students are influenced by their peers-along racial lines as well. This shows that this can be a factor in all situations, and we can learn from this data to remove unique markers-at least in some situations, to improve computer-mediated discussions (CMD) so that students can be expressive with minimal factors affecting their thought processes. Having a wide range of students in this exercise is also fantastic, as researchers can work with these results and build on them.
Students had the opportunity to interact with each other, and once the findings are recorded, it will be great to compare how this same group behaved when interacting in a different space. Perhaps, this might be the reason why a smaller group was used for the study.
The article shows that even though non-verbal communication can be challenging, tone, and stance when writing matters as many of the threads created by Nelson went unanswered. Perhaps, this opens discussions for students to be taught effective communication skills and best practices during discussions, as Nelson possibly came off as a show-off, leading to low engagements in many posts.
The fact that the article shows some students are still not comfortable talking about some topics online is a bit surprising, as I was of the impression that being behind the screen will give more confidence. This is another point I find interesting, as I believe that being behind a screen will make me more comfortable.
I like the fact that the article seems to suggest that quick responses while not being overly formal, led to more engagement, which I believe is one of the advantages of CMD’s.
What I Don’t Like About the Article
The number of students (13) that participated in the research is too small and not wide enough to give us concrete data to work with.
I would have also liked to see how different students in different stages of learning fared, as well as students from different backgrounds. It would have also been nice to see more variables to explore more factors that could affect students’ behavior, as I believe that factors such as one’s family income or race could also affect online behavior. For instance, when a student does not have adequate space or privacy, this might prevent the student from truly expressing his/her feelings, as friends and family might be a distraction.
Sex could also play a factor, in the sense that there might be differences between males and females, and having just two males will make it even more difficult to draw logical conclusions.
I also see this as a wasted opportunity to get refreshing insight that may have been used to understand the challenges students face, and not being able to directly use the data to improve online learning environments.
Although the article does mention slow typing speed a couple of times, I feel that this is not adequately accounted for as a factor that will affect the results of the exercise.
Even though best interests were intended, such research exercises cannot account for everything, such as medical emergencies. Perhaps, a wider pool will be able to negate such issues.
Works Cited
Yu, Li-tang, et al. “When students want to stand out: Discourse moves in online classroom discussion that reflects students’ need for distinctiveness”. Computers in Human Behavior, vol. 58, 2016, pp 1-11.
Writing Studies Journey 