Towards the Facilitation of an Online Community of Learners: Assessing the Quality of Interactions in Yammer

Abstract

This paper focuses on evaluating a theoretically informed approach to using social media as a means to support the development of a community of learners in an introductory human computer interaction course at a major US research university. Social network and communication analysis were used to examine the form and function of social interactions in Yammer. The data suggests that the theoretically informed approach to using Yammer succeeded in encouraging processes associated with a community of learners. The methods used in this paper may contribute to more effective ways of assessing the quality of discourse in socio-technical environments and the findings provide potential models for using social media as new contexts for developing conceptualization and discourse practices.