Student Communication in Online Classes

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In their study, Nagel, Blignaut, and Cronjé (2009) noted that although many studies agreed that online community establishment is the most crucial requirement for successful course completion and that it increasingly relies on information-sharing engagements between peers and the facilitator, Beaudoin (2002) reasoned that an online learner might engage and learn without directly participating on remote-learning discussions. This creates a problem that needs further research to unravel. Therefore, the study responds to Beaudoin’s (2002) article that students can learn and benefit from online discussions without visibly participating. The following research questions guided the study: (a) how do virtual engagement impact learning and successful completion of the course? And (b) how does engagement impact the learning community? (Nagel, Blignaut, & Cronjé, 2009). The authors employed a mixed methodology technique to establish whether or not discussion postings and logins impact learning and subsequent course completion. It was a case study fo...