What Encourages Student Participation in Online Discussions?: Student Motivation and Social Presence

This is an important book for any teacher teaching online courses, designers of online courses or students wanting to know what will assist them in becoming more successful online learners. The use of Computer Mediated Communication may offer students studying online an interactive and collaborative learning environment. However, not all online discussions are productive for learning and one of the first requirements is student participation. Therefore, it is important to identify what encourages students to participate in such discussions. This book explores how student motivation and social presence influence student participation and in addition how these factors may change over the course of a semester. Thus the elements that initially encourage participation do not necessarily maintain participation throughout the course and must be continually assessed and changed as necessary. This book provides some possible solutions for such challenges.