Knowledge Contribution in a Non-Formal Virtual Setting through a Social Constructionist Approach: A Case Study of an Online Learning Community.

摘要

This study explored an online learning community in a non-formal educational setting and the process participants used in order to share, create, and construct knowledge through their interactions in the online community. Participants in the study were college interns who were part of a grant that focused on providing professional development for interns through training them to implement leadership and lifeskills activities. The activities were conducted with youth in military families who were dealing with deployment issues.;The primary research question that guided this study was: To what extent do participants of an educational online learning community in a non-formal setting engage in sharing, constructing, and creating knowledge? Data was collected through interviewing the participants, observing the participants in online and face-to-face settings, and examining the documents and artifacts posted in the virtual spaces of the learning community. Social Constructionism served as the theoretical framework for the study, and elements of knowledge-building – constructing, creating, and sharing knowledge – were important in analyzing the findings. The study described connections between participants’ perceptions of place, sense of self, and purpose and values and their overall knowledge contribution to the community. The findings are significant regarding their potential to benefit students and educators involved in online communities associated with non-formal educational settings. The findings may be of particular interest to those who are endeavoring to create more effective online learning environments through providing real-world professional development situations.