List of Figures

xii

List of Tables

xiii

Foreword

xv

Preface

xvii

Acknowledgements

xxi

Abbreviations

xxiv

Chapter 1: Chatrooms and Learning Behaviors

1

1.1 The Challenge of Online Learning

1

1.2 Research Questions

3

1.2.1 Conversational Equity: A Case Study

5

1.2.2 Discussion Quality: A Quasi-Experimental Study

6

1.3 Looking Forward

7

2: Chatrooms and Small Learning

11

2.1 Chatrooms and Small Group Learning

11

2.2 The Uniqueness of Text-Based Chat

12

2.2.1 Linguistic Features of Chat Conversations

13