Communication in an online learning environment : A social  perspective on developing learner to learner communication

Sammanfattning: The current learning management systems do not enable the students to communicate both course related and social information in a satisfactory manner. This might put the students at risk of feeling isolated, but there is also a risk it might decrease the students results. This research aims to examine why students are unsatisfied with the communication in LMSs and to provide knowledge and a suggestion of a system design that enables the students to interact satisfactory. The participants in the study were found to be unsatisfied with the separation of synchronous and asynchronous communication functions. Both functions has benefits, but they should be incorporated in one function. Neither did the LMS notify the students about other students participation in discussion, nor tasks performed in the system. Moreover, this research follows a design science process that combines the soft systems methodology and the unified process to develop new knowledge and artefacts that are used as suggestion for action to improve the situation. A system design is proposed that combines asynchronous and synchronous communication while also include a mechanism for notify the students of each others activities in the system.