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Abstract
The purpose of this study is to examine the dynamic of online classroom interaction networks and to determine how such virtual relations are connected to the power relationships along the lines of race, class, and gender. This study analyzes both observed and perceived online classroom interaction networks while answering three major research questions, which are:
1. In what specific ways, if any, does asynchronous classroom discussion contribute to a higher level of online student integration?
2. How does the observed classroom network differ from the perceived classroom network?
3. How is the virtual classroom interaction associated with the power relationships along the lines of race, class, and gender?
Qualitative content analysis and social network analysis are employed to analyze the virtual interactions of 21 graduate students at a southeast U.S. university. Three major findings have been drawn from this analysis of the multilayered classroom interaction network data. First, casual interactions, consisting of short social postings, formed the lion’s share of the virtual classroom network, and explain how the students both connected with and disconnected from each other in the virtual environment. Second, women students’ interactions exhibited more reciprocity than did men’s. Third, a significant level of race-based homophily among the majority of White students lurked at the core of the virtual classroom network. Theoretical and practical implications were derived by revisiting feminist and critical theories, with the aim of extending the learning theory-driven approaches dominating current studies of online education. In conclusion, this study argued that power relationships along the lines of race, class, and gender were deeply reflected in the virtual classroom network: white male students were more likely to be respected than other students without substantial course participation, students of color with lower socioeconomic status were the most silent student group, and women’s undervalued reproductive labor sustained the online learning environment.
1. In what specific ways, if any, does asynchronous classroom discussion contribute to a higher level of online student integration?
2. How does the observed classroom network differ from the perceived classroom network?
3. How is the virtual classroom interaction associated with the power relationships along the lines of race, class, and gender?
Qualitative content analysis and social network analysis are employed to analyze the virtual interactions of 21 graduate students at a southeast U.S. university. Three major findings have been drawn from this analysis of the multilayered classroom interaction network data. First, casual interactions, consisting of short social postings, formed the lion’s share of the virtual classroom network, and explain how the students both connected with and disconnected from each other in the virtual environment. Second, women students’ interactions exhibited more reciprocity than did men’s. Third, a significant level of race-based homophily among the majority of White students lurked at the core of the virtual classroom network. Theoretical and practical implications were derived by revisiting feminist and critical theories, with the aim of extending the learning theory-driven approaches dominating current studies of online education. In conclusion, this study argued that power relationships along the lines of race, class, and gender were deeply reflected in the virtual classroom network: white male students were more likely to be respected than other students without substantial course participation, students of color with lower socioeconomic status were the most silent student group, and women’s undervalued reproductive labor sustained the online learning environment.