Sharing and constructing perspectives in web-based conferencing

This study investigates the quality and nature of virtual interaction in a higher education context. The study aims to find out variables that mediate virtual interaction, particularly the emerging processes of sharing and constructing perspectives in web-based conferencing. The purpose of this paper is to report the results on different levels of web-based discussions with parallel findings on the amount of sharing perspectives. The findings of two empirical studies are compared, and thereby also the impact of the pedagogical model designed between these two studies is evaluated. Possible explanations for why some discussions reach higher levels and include more perspective sharing than others are also searched for. Particular attention is paid to the qualitatively distinct ways in which individual students interpret their participation in virtual interaction and the impact of group working on their own learning. These findings lead us on to discuss specific processes by which participants could better understand each other, create joint goals and construct meanings in virtual interaction.