The Web Pen Pals Project: Students’ Perceptions of a Learning Community in an Online Synchronous Environment
Joellen Maples
Susan Groenke
University of Tennessee-Knoxville
Dan Dunlap
Virginia Tech
Abstract
This paper draws on data gathered from a five-month phenomenological study of middle school students’ perceptions of the effects of computer-based technologies on a learning community in an online synchronous environment. Twenty-four eighth-grade students participated in the Web Pen Pals project, a university-secondary telecollaborative partnership which brings middle school students together with pre-service teachers enrolled in an adolescent literature course in online chat rooms to discuss young adult literature. The complexities of creating a community are explored through interviews of the middle school participants, which reveal several themes affecting the development of a learning community: 1) obstacles to community-making, which include anonymity and lack of ease with technology; 2) establishing friendships; 3) an emergent language system; and 4) the symbolic inversion of traditional “teacher” and “student” roles.
About the Author(s)...
Joellen Maples is a Clinical Instructor in English Education at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Previously she taught for nine years at South Doyle Middle School as a reading teacher. She is currently a Ph.D. candidate in English Education. Her research interests include critical literacy pedagogy, altruism and other dispositions of effective teachers, feminist theory and teaching, and technology in English education. She can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Susan Groenke is an Assistant professor in English education at University of Tennessee-Knoxville. Dr. Groenke's research interests include the use of technology in reading instruction and engagement with underserved populations. She can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Daniel Dunlap is a research scientist for the Center for Human-Computer Interaction at Virginia Tech. He earned his Ph.D. in Science and Technology Studies from Virginia Tech in 2002. Dr. Dunlap's research interests include collaborative technologies for teaching and learning, knowledge management for teachers, community networks, and design of interactive technologies for democratic reforms in schools and communities. He can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
