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Evolving Mechanisms of Virtual Learning Communities: Lessons Learned from a Case in Higher Education

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  • 2012 Accesses

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNAI,volume 5288))

Abstract

This paper presents an explorative case of a Virtual Learning Community built around a Master’s Program intended to create “e-Business Solutions Engineers”. To monitor the evolution of the learning community we applied a methodological framework composed of four dimensions: knowledge improvement, mental models’ evolution, social networks dynamics, and overall satisfaction measurement. The analysis of data, collected through ten months of exchanged e-mails and five monthly web-surveys, has been validated through interviews to a key informant. The application of Social Network Analysis provided a dynamic visualization of the interactions that we matched with the learning outcomes at individual and team level.

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Miltiadis D. Lytras John M. Carroll Ernesto Damiani Robert D. Tennyson

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© 2008 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Corallo, A., De Maggio, M., Grippa, F., Passiante, G. (2008). Evolving Mechanisms of Virtual Learning Communities: Lessons Learned from a Case in Higher Education. In: Lytras, M.D., Carroll, J.M., Damiani, E., Tennyson, R.D. (eds) Emerging Technologies and Information Systems for the Knowledge Society. WSKS 2008. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 5288. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-87781-3_34

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-87781-3_34

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-87780-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-87781-3

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

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