A Study On Constructive Strategy For Social Network In Virtual Learning Community

The rapid development of the Internet has greatly transformed the traditional educational institutions all over the world. Internet-based education has been gaining popularity either as a compliment to the traditional face-to-face way of learning, or replacing the traditional ways by providing the students with online courses.Frankly speaking, the effect of online learning does not meet the expectations and learners frequently suffer from loneliness, emotional vacancy as well as lack of interactions. To solve these problems, during recent years, researchers have adopted the sociological methods and began to show their concern on the interactive structure among learners, or the social network formed within the virtual learning community. Their findings show that the effect of Internet-based learning and the learners'social network are correlated. However, a social network that can meet the needs of the designer, help the learners to acquire knowledge thorough interactions, assist the learners accomplish tasks and promote learners'interpersonal relations can not come into being voluntarily. And it is a pity that until now, how to build up such a social network in virtual learning community still needs to be discussed.Based on the previous research both home and abroad on this issue, this paper analyzes the following parameters such as intensity, centrality, cohesive subgroups and reciprocity, and eventually divides the social network in virtual learning community into three dimensions, namely, structural, relational, and cognitive, and raises the possible strategies for building up social network within a virtual learning community from the above-mentioned three dimensions. The author argues that, first of all, it is the designer who should provide a stage for virtual learning community, should select proper work load, and should provide necessary learning resources. As far as structural dimension is concerned, a social network, neither over-centralized nor over-decentralized should be set up, and the designer should set particular roles for those low-WTC learners, should make clear of the positions that each learner has, and should clearly understand his or her own function so as to retreat in the proper time. As far as the relational dimension is concerned, it is of great significance that the learners gain and maintain a mutual trust as soon as possible; at same time, it is also important that learners should clearly understand the disciplines, rules as well as obligation and responsibilities of themselves so that the intensity of the social network can be enhanced, the reciprocity of the learners can be increased and the efficiency can be promoted accordingly. As in the cognitive dimension, a shared vision among the learners should be established, and a common language that belongs to this particular community should be developed so as to increase cohesiveness and decrease the marginalized or silent members. Lastly, the course"Japanese Enterprise Culture"in Ningbo University is taken by the author as an example of virtual learning community. Various methods such as social network analysis, literature analysis and quantitative analysis are adopted, the asynchronous and synchronous data on / off the line between the teacher and the student are coded, the intensity, connection, centrality, cohesive subgroups, core-periphery structure and social position are analyzed to exam the validity of the strategies for the construction of social network in virtual learning community.