| With regard to distance education, student engagement, and social interaction there lies tremendous potential concerning adult learners and their achievement. Each of these domains seeks to empower individuals towards improving their overall academic success. Surprisingly, approaches that investigate distance education, student engagement, and social interaction in higher education have received very little attention (Biocca, Harms, & Bugoon, 2003; Mellon & Kestor, 2004; Palloff & Pratt, 2005; Russo & Benson, 2005; Tu, 2002; Tu & McIsacc, 2002; Vesely, Bloom, & Sherlock, 2007). The majority of effort focuses on establishing the distance education course infrastructure and providing training on constructing a distance education course (Molinari, 2004); yet once the course environment is developed, the question should turn to appropriate instructional strategies to actively engage learners that supports higher order thinking skills (Bloom, 1956) that are integral towards understanding a real world environment. As distance education courses continue to expand in higher education, questions surrounding the creation of a dynamic and successful community of learners must be addressed (MacDonald, 2002; McIsaac, Blocher, Mahes, & Vrasidas, 1999).;The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate what factors contributed to the formation of a community of learners in a distance education graduate course. Eleven students and one instructor in an online Master's degree program at a higher education institution were studied. The research question that guided the study was: What are the factors that may contribute towards creating a community of learners within an online environment? A design utilizing case study and grounded theory was used to define emergent themes. Archived data were collected that included bulletin board posts, student assignments, emails, and student e-folios. Five major themes were identified from the data analysis which included 24 categories and subcategories. The results identified certain elements which may lead to the creation of online learning communities. These elements were discussed in detail and recommendations on creating and maintaining online learning communities in higher education were made. |
