Knowledge generation in online forums: a case study in the German educational domain
| Date | 19 January 2015 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/AJIM-09-2014-0112 |
| Pages | 2-26 |
| Published date | 19 January 2015 |
| Author | Joachim Griesbaum,Nadine Mahrholz,Kim von Löwe Kiedrowski,Marc Rittberger |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science,Information behaviour & retrieval |
Knowledge generation in online
forums: a case study in the
German educational domain
Joachim Griesbaum, Nadine Mahrholz and
Kim von Löwe Kiedrowski
Institute of Information Science and Natural Language Processing,
University of Hildesheim, Hildesheim, Germany, and
Marc Rittberger
German Institute for International Educational Research,
Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences, Darmstadt, Germany
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to get a first approximation of the usefulness of online forums
with regard to information seeking and knowledge generation.
Design/methodology/approach –This study captures the characteristics of knowledge generation
by examining the pragmatics and types of information needs of posted questions and by investigating
knowledge related characteristics of discussion posts as well as the success of communication. Three
online forums were examined. The data set consists of 55 threads, containing 533 posts which were
categorized manually by two researchers.
Findings –Results show that questioners often ask for personal estimations. Information needs often
aim for actionable insights or uncertainty reduction. With regard to answers, factual information is the
dominant content type and has the highest knowledge value as it is the strongest predictor with regard
to the generation of new knowledge. Opinions are also relevant, but in a rather subsequent and
complementary way. Emotional aspects are scarcely observed. Overall, results indicate that knowledge
creation predominantly follows a socio-cultural paradigm of knowledge exchange.
Research limitations/implications –Although the investigation captures important aspects of
knowledge building processes, the measurement of the forums’knowledge value is still rather limited.
Success is only partly measurable with the current scheme. The central coding category “new topical
knowledge”is only of nominal value and therefore not able to compare different kinds of knowledge
gains in the course of discussion.
Originality/value –The investigation reaches out beyond studies that do not consider that the role
and relevance of posts is dependent on the state of the discussion. Furthermore, the paper integrates
two perspectives of knowledge value: the success of the questioner with regard to the expressed
information need and the knowledge building value for communicants and readers.
Keywords Forums, Educational domain, Online communities, Social information behaviour,
Social media analysis, Social web
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
Social media adaption can be assessed as a paradigm change not only with regard to
potentially unlimited communication but also with respect to knowledge generation
(Shirky, 2008). The open social web has widely expanded the universe of available
knowledge. Apart from the value of such knowledge as an information resource, active
participation provides further benefits for the users involved. Asking questions in
Aslib Journal of Information
Management
Vol. 67 No. 1, 2015
pp. 2-26
©Emerald Group Publishing Limited
2050-3806
DOI 10.1108/AJIM-09-2014-0112
Received 2 September 2014
Revised 9 November 2014
Accepted 12 November 2014
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/2050-3806.htm
This investigation is part of a research project sponsored by the German Institute for
International Educational Research.
2
AJIM
67,1
online forums or question and answering services offers the possibility to directly
satisfy personal information needs. In addition, one may build up knowledge by
engaging in ongoing conversations with peers. We will discuss the knowledge value of
such social media for information seeking and for knowledge building purposes.
Key aspects are types of knowledge users aim for and pragmatic intents of
questions, knowledge-related characteristics of posts and also success. The aim is to
derive a first approximation of the usefulness of forums seen from users’perspectives,
which we will name as knowledge value of the investigated communities. Three forums
with a topical focus on education-related communication serve as a test bed and case
studies for the investigation. We selected forums that are targeted at teachers and
students of education-related study paths. In these forums, we expect that discussions
focus on topics concerned with professional aspects of teaching and studying.
The paper is structured as follows. First, we give an introduction into social media
usage in education-related contexts. Following that, we provide an overview of current
research on structures and quality of communication in social media. Subsequently,
we expose theoretical considerations to provide an analytical framework. Then, the
research questions are delineated and the research approach and metho ds are presented
and discussed. Finally, data and results are described. We conclude the paper with a
discussion and an outlook.
2. Social media usage in education-related contexts
The social web has created new possibilities for personal, communal and public
information sharing (Shirky, 2010). Nevertheless, social media usage still can be seen as
a primarily leisure-based phenomenon. Whereas the adaptation of social media is
advanced with regard to personal communication and self-expression in social networking
sites (SNS) and product or service-related information behavior, the significance and role
of social media in professional contexts is often unknown.
Social media usage in educational contexts can be categorized into two main facets :
first, the employment of social media in formal learning, e.g. using Facebook, Twitter
and other social media as e-learning tools in courses and lectures. Second, the self-
determinedusage of social media for (mostlyinformal) learning. Although the first aspect
is very interesting, the focus of this paper is on the second aspect, the self-determined
usage of social media for information seeking and knowledge building purposes. This i s
what we call social information behavior. Here, we can differentiate between (a) seeking
and deployingexisting user-generatedcontent to satisfy information needs (e.g.reading a
Wikipedia article) and (b) active participation in social media to answer current
informationneeds, for instance by asking a specificquestion in an online forum,and/or to
build up knowledge by ongoing conversations with peers in communities.
With regard to (a) the receptive use of social media, according to an online survey of
Gibs (2009), there is a segment of online users who see social media as a “core to finding
new information.”With regard to (b) active participation, Kleimann et al. (2008) found
that a substantial fraction of students use social communities to communicate with
peers about study-related aspects. Kim et al. (2011) surveyed 446 undergraduate
students and found that different social media types are used in different information
seeking contexts. Whereas SNS are preferred for everyday life purposes, question-
answering services are used for leisure as well as academic needs.
In short, we can see that in education-related information contexts too, social media
can be assessed as an integral part of the information environment and resources users
3
Knowledge
generation in
online forums
To continue reading
Request your trial