The Three Rs of Online Learning: Interpretive Views of the Social Practices of Reading, Rereading, and Revisiting

Abstract

As participation in formal online learning continues to be more commonplace in higher education, high schools, and middle schools (Means, Toyama, Murphy, Bakia, Jones, 2010), contextualized explorations of social practices important to learning in discussion-based online learning environments (DBOLEs) are called for. This research combines both online learning and literacy research perspectives by examining quantitative and qualitative data from an interpretive perspective to better understand the less visible, less studied, and typically less instructor-valued practices of reading, rereading, and revisiting (the 3 Rs) in DBOLEs. This study of the behaviours and opinions of 137 students, one instructor, and their 13,754 entries in eight online graduate education courses investigates the social practices of the 3Rs and those practices related to subject titles. Revisiting othersâ word-for-word ideas and creating/selecting information by subject titles are new literacy practices taking place in online learning that ordinarily do not have identical practices in face-to-face classrooms. These practices are essential to online learning and are important to understand. An instructor interview contributed thoughtful perspectives while documenting understandings of how learnersâ social practices can be supported and valued. Through an explanatory sequential mixed methods design, the findings are presented in three sub-study formats. This study finds that participants revisit many entries, sometimes multiple times, to further their understandings or seek clarification, or participate socially in the online learning environment. As well, the findings suggest that creating subject titles is an important practice that influences the learning of both the author and the reader. These findings call for consideration of a pedagogical change in the value placed on these less visible practices, supported by instructional design modifications highlighting, for both instructors and students, the importance of reading and revisiting activities. Finally, it may be valuable to consider more deeply exploring and documenting the social practices taking place in online learning in order to contribute to a potential lowercase theory of new literacies in online learning, under the wings of the evolving uppercase Dual-Level Theory of New Literacies (Leu, Kinzer, Coiro, Castek, Henry, 2013). This research could be considered a contributing body of work.