Chapter Four examines researcher positioning within online spaces. More specifically, it considers how researchers might participate in their research sites and interact with participants, providing a continuum from non-interactional “lurking” and “creeping,” to full participation in an environment. Examining forms of participation and interaction is central to understanding the role of the online researcher, as well as the nuances of participatory practices, online cultures, and virtual data collection.
Chapter Five addresses data collection in light of evolving online spaces. Honoring traditional qualitative methods as well as a pragmatic approach to data collection, this chapter examines various contemporary methods to study online meaning making. It also outlines key questions to ask when considering data sources and data collection techniques.
Chapter Six focuses on data analysis. It begins by discussing research questions and data analysis plans and then reviews potential methods that may be used alone or mixed in creative ways. The chapter focuses on thematic, grounded theory, discourse, and artifact analyses, and it also examines studies that use multimethod approaches to describe learning and participation in online spaces. Readers will consider the theoretical assumptions embedded in different forms of data analysis, as well as how to align their data analysis with their overarching interests and study designs.
Chapter Seven considers ethical aspects of conducting research in online spaces. This chapter traces the history of cases and policies that have contributed to the field of research ethics, and it discusses how these cases are related to the various policies that inform the conduct of ethical research in online spaces. This chapter provides recommendations for navigating ethics review boards and discusses what constitutes public information and private information, including the impact of security settings on ethical data collection. Additionally, it considers how to ensure the anonymity of one’s research participants in online research contexts through layers of concealment depending on the sensitivity of the data collected.
The final chapter, Chapter Eight, moves scholars beyond their current research and engages them in considering the next steps to take or new technologies to explore in future inquiries. This chapter encourages readers to think through practical applications for how their research informs their understanding of learning, as well as ways to examine the implications of their research.
Acknowledgments
We would like to thank our respective institutions, Sam Houston State University, St. John’s University, the University of Sydney, and the University of New Hampshire, for the support necessary to complete this comprehensive text.
We appreciate colleagues’ and reviewers’ important feedback, which has helped us to extend how we perceive and study learning in online spaces. Conversations with colleagues and fellow scholars have helped us to clarify, confirm, and challenge (re)conceptualized approaches to qualitative research. Likewise, we thank the SAGE reviewers who took the time to provide us extensive feedback throughout the review process: Darnell Bradley, Cardinal Stritch University; Martin Oliver, UCL Institute of Education; Damiana Gibbons Pyles, Appalachian State University; and Pamela Whitehouse, Midwestern State University.
We would like to thank Tony Onwuegbuzie for providing thought-provoking insight in his foreword to our text.
We also would like to thank Helen Salmon and the SAGE editorial staff for their dedication and commitment to this project. Thank you for your continued attention and earnest support.
Authors’ Note
Over the course of time, scholars have refined understandings and theories related to learning and the research of learning in online and offline spaces. Given the natural progression of thought, coupled with the inevitable and often swift evolution of technology, there may be multiple editions of a given text. In our book, we have carefully selected editions that have enabled us to situate theories, and our focus on any one particular edition brings to light that publication’s unique contribution. We do not intend to privilege any one scholar’s perspectives; rather, we build on the strength of historically situated thinking to enrich the discussion of contemporary research and the overall examination of learning in online spaces.
About the Authors
Hannah R. Gerberis an associate professor in the Department of Language, Literacy and Special Populations at Sam Houston State University in Texas, where she teaches graduate courses in digital epistemologies and virtual ethnography. Gerber’s research has focused on adolescents and their videogaming practices, examining confluences of learning across various literacies in multiple online and offline settings. She has conducted research in such diverse environments as homes, libraries, and schools, and within inner-city, rural, and international contexts in North America, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia. She has given lectures and keynote addresses on her research at conferences and universities around the world. Gerber’s recent publications can be found in English Journal, Educational Media International, and The ALAN Review. She is coeditor of Bridging Literacies with Videogames.Sandra Schamroth Abramsis an associate professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at St. John’s University in New York. Her research of digital literacies and videogaming focuses on agentive learning, layered meaning making, and pedagogical discovery located at the intersection of online and offline experiences. Her recent work appears in the Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, the Journal of Literacy Research, and Educational Media International. She is the author of Integrating Virtual and Traditional Learning in 6–12 Classrooms: A Layered Literacies Approach to Multimodal Meaning Making and the coeditor of Bridging Literacies with Videogames.Jen Scott Curwoodis a senior lecturer in English education and media studies at the University of Sydney in Australia. Her research focuses on literacy, technology, and teacher professional development. She has recently investigated young adults’ writing practices in online spaces and teachers’ integration of digital tools in content area classrooms. Curwood’s scholarship has appeared in the Journal of Literacy Research, Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, Teaching Education, and Learning, Media, and Technology.Alecia Marie Magnificois an assistant professor of English at the University of New Hampshire, where she teaches courses on English teaching, digital literacies, and research methods. Magnifico’s research interests focus on understanding, supporting, and encouraging adolescents’ writing for different audiences. Much of her writing in this area describes and theorizes composition across formal and informal contexts. She also works with teachers to design curricula and assessments that engage digital tools and multiple literacies. She enjoys the challenge of developing research methods to represent what happens in these complex social learning spaces. Magnifico’s recent work can be found in Literacy, the Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, and E-Learning and Digital Media.
Chapter One How Can Learning in Online Spaces Be Informed by Qualitative Research?
Guiding Questions for Chapter 1
Historically, how have qualitative approaches been used to study learning in online spaces?
How does the concept of remixing