Network and Content Analysis in a Blog Training Course

Abstract The purpose of this study was to evaluate interaction patterns among twenty (n=20) physical educators (PE) who voluntarily attended an eight week training course using blog, in order to enhance their professional development and their skills in effective teaching; the way they shared and constructed knowledge together was also a focus of our interest. The asynchronous online discussion between the learners formed the basis for the study. Social network analysis and content analysis were applied to analyze the data. The results showed that interaction patterns between the participants were rather centralized and network was relatively dense. Moreover, person to person communication was rather high. Content analysis revealed that the discussion was mainly focused on sharing and comparing information, as far as in negotiation and knowledge construction. A significant degree of social presence was established, which indicated that socio-emotional interaction between learners was essential in realizing meaningful and worthwhile educational outcomes.