Social Interaction and Communication in Digital Learning Environments: Qualitative Interview Study in the field of Teacher Training

Abstract

In this contribution we examine social interaction and communication among students in a digital learning environment. Remote learning plays an increasingly central role in education. There are similarities between social interaction and communication in digital learning environments and face-to-face interaction, but also fundamental differences. We need to learn more about students’ perception of digital communication and their usage behaviour in order to adapt digital education to the needs of the learners. This contribution seeks to discuss the affordances and constraints of online discussion forums used in formal education in comparison to informal social media and face-to-face interaction. We present the results of an interview study with N = 19 student teachers who attended the presented e-learning course during the CoVid-19-pandemic. From the results, we derive recommendations for educators when it comes to implementing online discussion forums in their learning environments.