The socio-constructivist perspective of learning is broadly accepted in education. Social learning, as defined by (Brown & Adler, 2008), “is based on the premise that our understanding of content is socially constructed through conversations about that content and through grounded interactions, especially with others, around problems or actions” (p. 18). In line with this view, our interests in social learning is not only interested in adding social ingredients into traditional learning but also invested in connecting learners and ideas, tapping into the power of serendipity, and promoting deep listening and reciprocity. In this area of research, we attempt to design social learning environments to foster online dialogues, develop social learning analytics for individual/group reflection, and examine social phenomena (e.g., “rich-clubs”) in these social learning spaces.
Publications
- Chen, B. & Huang, T.G (2019). It is about timing: Network prestige in asynchronous online discussions. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning. doi:10.1111/jcal.12355
- Huang, T., & Chen, B. (2018). Uncovering the rich club phenomenon in an online class. In Proceedings of the 2018 ICLS Conference. London, UK: ISLS.
- Chen, B. (2018). Designing for Networked Collaborative Discourse: An UnLMS Approach. TechTrends, 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11528-018-0284-7
- Chen, B., Chang, Y.-H., Ouyang, F., & Zhou, W. (2018). Fostering student engagement in online discussion through social learning analytics. The Internet and Higher Education, 37, 21–30. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iheduc.2017.12.002
