Internet Learning Volume 3, Number 2, Fall 2014 | Page 100

Visualizing Knowledge Networks in Online Courses
Figure 21. Group 4. Week 1. Media
D. RQ2 Discussion
The thread graph timeline visualization
allowed us to see the corpus data
in context, revealing both how individual
attributes are expressed in a conversational
context, and how others responded
to these behaviors.
The timeline also helped us to see
phenomena that were clear in neither the
corpus visualizations nor the LMS discussion
board display. For example, we have
commented above on the influence of Jakata
and Naya’s successive questioning on the
evolution of the thread. But also note the
pattern of instructor participation across
all threads in this week of discussion, highlighted
in Figure 21.
Jakata’s question is one of several
of similar format posted across multiple
threads within a 20-minute period on the
evening of Day 2. Based on the data for the
entire week, and taking into account Jakata’s
corpus diagram, this short, targeted nudge
for elaboration appears to be a templated
strategy for engaging in and promoting
discussion. Naya appears to employ a similar
approach, only later in the week. Note
that the Alakel and Fesler threads at the top
of Figure 21 are not yet extant during the
time Jakata is posting, and Jakata never returns
to post in those threads. The ability
to identify this pattern does not necessarily
invalidate the approach. Indeed, it appears
to work fairly well for Renlit in this case,
as a validation of Renlit’s examples and as
encouragement to use personal and professional
experience as tools with which to
engage with course concepts. But does the
strategy work consistently in varying contexts,
and for students who post at different
times? And what of the other student par-
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