Volume 13, Issue 2, 2011 Teachers’ Interactions in an Online Graduate Course on Moodle: A Social Network Analysis Perspective

A combination of social network analysis and content analysis was used to investigate the interactions that took place in an online Moodle course among 22 participants that were enrolled in a teacher education graduate program. The purpose of this study was to examine both the patterns and quality of the online interactions, which were assessed using a content analysis schema. The social network measures of the online learning network demonstrated that Moodle may have the capability to help establish a cohesive online learning community where members are able to participate in meaningful social interactions. Results from the coding of discussion posts demonstrated that, despite active online interactions, participants still lacked higher level knowledge co-construction. Factors that might impede online knowledge construction processes are examined and discussed so that higher levels of knowledge construction can be encouraged and eventually realized.