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Article Summary
Research Problem
In the "Read-only participants: a case for student communication in online classes," Nagel, Blignaut, and Cronje touch on various aspects and components essential to the online learning community from a micro and macro point of view. The Study focuses on the correlation
between students' online participation and graduate-level course completion at the University of Pretoria. The authors used a mixed methodology to explore how students' online classroom activity affects course success.
Questions
Two questions were posed during the research study.
1.
How did online participation relate to learning and successful course completion?
2.
How did participation influence the learning community?
Both questions are essential to conclude the importance of being an active student in the learning community to benefit the community and oneself. Both questions were constructed after
the review of various studies published on similar topics. Their research demonstrated that online
participation was necessary for successful course completion. Their exploration is focused on multiple perspectives; they define that a community is developed through the interactions of peers and the facilitator, and virtual learning communities are characterized by learner satisfaction, perseverance, and cognitive outcomes.
Methodology
Using a mixed methodology approach, Nagel, Blignaut, and Cronje conducted their research using qualitative and content analysis techniques. They conducted their content analysis