
Mining Data from Weibo to WeChat: A Comparative Case Study of MOOC Communities on Social Media in China
ARTICLE
Ke Zhang, Wayne State University, United States
International Journal on E-Learning Volume 14, Number 3, ISSN 1537-2456 Publisher: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE), Waynesville, NC USA
Abstract
This article starts with an overview on China’s MOOC phenomenon and social media, and then reports a comparative, multiple case study on three selected MOOC communities that have emerged on social media in China. These representative MOOC communities included: (a) MOOC Academy, the largest MOOC community in China, (b) Zhejiang University of Technology MOOC Group, the first officially registered student MOOC organization in China’s universities, and (c) a fully online community devoted for high school (or younger) students in MOOCs. Data were collected through a variety of Chinese social media (e.g., Sina Weibo, QQ Qun, and WeChat), social networking sites (e.g., Baidu Tieba, GuoKr, Sina blog, etc.), news press, and Web-based community portals. Text mining and content analyses were conducted to study the varied MOOC communities and how they functioned on social media to promote MOOCs as well as to support MOOC learners and the broader community. Implications for research and practice of MOOC communities are discussed.
Citation
Zhang, K. (2015). Mining Data from Weibo to WeChat: A Comparative Case Study of MOOC Communities on Social Media in China. International Journal on E-Learning, 14(3), 305-329. Waynesville, NC USA: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE). Retrieved December 12, 2019 from https://www.learntechlib.org/primary/p/150662/.
© 2015 Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE)
Keywords
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Public Response to “the MOOC Movement” in China: Examining the Time Series of Microblogging
Jingjing Zhang, Kirk Perris, Qinhua Zheng & Li Chen, Beijing Normal University
The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning Vol. 16, No. 5 (Sep 29, 2015)
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