You Are a Bully! - A Provocateur in Online Discussions

This paper discusses one of the approaches towards learning in the online discussions environment. The approach which was first labeled negatively as ‘bully’ but then recognized as provocateur in online discussions. A provocateur in this study is indicated as a highly visible participant and highly engaged in learning in the online discussions. The case study reveals the provocateur’s strategies for his personal learning by provoking other students in the online discussions and how he views his approach to enable learning. This study contributes to understanding adopted roles of participants in online discussions and the findings benefit certain areas in the online discussion environment. The findings of this study also could help tutors of online discussions look at individual roles more closely in order to understand and support personal learning in the online discussion process.