The topic is close to one of the areas of my research on sociology of technology in education.

Few suggestions:

1) I think you could gain insights into all 3 aspects you want with an online survey, that is, obtaining information based on users' statements. This quantitative tool is, for example, best for your no. 1 issue of motivation as  it is difficult for us to guess users' motivation  with direct observations. You might, but it will take many hours for a little piece of information.

2) Survey data could be followed by direct observations. This stage will be, I think, particularly useful for your No. 2 issue, that is, collaboration and it will be happening right in front of you. Then, step 3:  narrow down the number of participants to the cases  for interview you are really interested in.  Remember that all steps 1 , 2 and 3 have different sampling method, although they might come from the same N pool.

3) There are many technological tools with different level of learning. So, my final  suggestion is this. Instead of going into a technology ad random or the first at hand (what you use now, for example), perhaps it would be smarter  to choose a technological platform that is proven to be education-oriented, e.g., Moodle. I think this will save time for you. If you choose other lesser educational tools such as Pods and Facebook, then your research will be more difficult to handle and keep the focus you wanted. This is because the technical variation tends to derail researchers from the 'main road'.  There are substantial amount of research on Moodle, so this is also an advantage. You start from a solid literature ground.

Cheers

Tommy:

Here's a link to a recently completed evaluation study for an online program using the CIPP model that can be used to inform your research.

I extend best wishes for every success with your research.

Debra

http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/1485/2536

Tommy:

I am also include some short practical pieces that I published that can also inform best practice in the online environment:

Article How Much Multimedia Should You Add to PowerPoint Slides When...

Article Cultural Sensitivity Needed in Online Discussion Rubric Language

Conference Paper Culturally Responsive ICT Integration into Teaching and Learning

Please see some of my articles.

Kind regards

NP

You might get some ideas on best practice with respect to the platform from the ACODE benchmarks available at http://www.acode.edu.au/pluginfile.php/579/mod_resource/content/3/TEL_Benchmarks.pdf

A grandes rasgos, se puede decir que las estructuras de las plataformas educativas son similares. Personalmente me atraen las plataformas austeras (frías, en términos de McLuhan), porque su uso puede ser más flexible y variado. Los tres aspectos mencionados, en mi opinión, no se encuentran en la estructura en sí misma, sino en los contenidos y en la forma de su presentación (la didáctica). En este sentido, el educador que utiliza una plataforma debe ser muy creativo convirtiendo las actividades, en su gran mayoría escritas y en cierto sentido limitadas, en algo que tenga sentido para el alumno (ello depende del grupo, de la cultura, del momento también). En mi práctica docente, frecuentemente ayuda el "juego" deinversión de papeles entre el alumno y el profesor; también una orientación hacia establecimiento de los diálogos entre los textos o fragmentos de éstos (no me refiero a los foros que pretenden copiar los diálogos orales). Hay otras "técnicas" didácticas que constantemente se modifican y se inventan. Saludos.

Tommy

here is a summary of developments over 14 years from early use of in-house designed platforms to commercial platforms (notably Blackboard) - it may help frame an approach

Chapter Using Virtual Learning Environments to Present Different Lea...

Firstly, I would establish who is the newcomer and who is the experienced learner. Everyone might have different level of skills, knowledge and experience.  By knowing this, we can establish the community of learning. The learners then can interact and learn from each other through LPP - legitimate peripheral participation. This view is from situated learning theory. 

i recently published an article about the experience of online learning which addresses all 3 of the components you are interested in.  The article reference list will be useful to you as well.  Good luck!

Article The personal experience of online learning: An interpretativ...

Hi Tommy,

I recently published an article that outlined a few of the most popular evaluation models (DOI: 10.5430/ijhe.v4n3p104). The Kirkpatrick evaluation might be of use to you.

Best of luck,

Helena

Article Research and Evaluation in Medical Education

Hello.

I believe that you can find more appropriate my papers:

1. Pellas, N. (2014). The influence of computer self-efficacy, metacognitive self-regulation and self-esteem on student engagement in online learning programs: Evidence from the virtual world of Second Life. Computers in Human Behavior, 35(1), 157-170.

2. Pellas, N. & Kazanidis, I. (2014). Online and hybrid university-level courses with the utilization of Second Life: Investigating the factors that predict student choice in Second Life supported online and hybrid university-level courses. Computers in Human Behavior, 40(2), 31-43.

Take a look also to my profile.

Kind regards,

NP 

How best can I measure the psychological effect of isolation on Open Distance Learners? - ResearchGate. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/post/How_best_can_I_measure_the_psychological_effect_of_isolation_on_Open_Distance_Learners#5637820d61432535f58b456e [accessed Nov 2, 2015].

Hi Tommy

this goes to my research and work as well.

I have been managing online graduate education programs for 8 years and researching into online communities of practice for qualified legal practitioners.

We do a few things.

we survey both students and teachers

our questions don't just address courses but the whole program, we ask students to focus on their learning with question such as

what parts of the program assisted your learning?

what would you change?

we ask teachers a range of student centred questions as well. and evaluate the outcomes annually.

we hold annual review weekends with the teachers to discuss and then we post up a summary of what students asked for and any changes we have made and why.

This has led to changes each year in both academic content and importantly design of the sites.

I think that your proposed methods are fine depending on how large the project is.

so in answer to your questions

Motivating the learning.

Supporting collaborative learning.

Establishing a sense of belonging to a community.

the things I have found that area a help are

problem based learning/experiential learning together as a group. working on a task with a sense of purpose. Students must be told what you want them to do and more importantly why? they need a sense of purpose and agency to take on their learning.

we give students responsibilities by assigning them rotating roles and they work on an agreement as to how they will interact with each other before they begin.

feedback on each post and interaction in the beginning of each course is vital for students to establish a rapport and engage. The online teacher needs to have a social presence to be successful and the learners need to know who it there to become a community.

IMPORTANTLY making the site easy to navigate - avoid bells and whistles the site should be almost so easy to navigate they forget its there.

we teach online asynchronously to close to 2000 course enrolments per year

articles/research that help us are

Anderson, T 2008, Teaching in an online learning context, 2nd edn, AU Press, Edmonton, 9781897425084,

Beaven, T, Hauck, M, Comas-Quinn, A, Lewis, T & de los Arcos, B 2014, 'MOOCs: Striking the right balance between facilitation and self-determination', MERLOT Journal of Online Learning and Teaching, vol. 10, no. 1, pp. 31-43.

Dorner, H. 2010  Mentoring for innovation: key factors affecting participant satisfaction in the process of collaborative knowledge construction in teacher training.Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks

 Eraut, M 2004, 'Informal Learning in the workplace', Studies in Continuing Education, vol. 26, no. 2.

 Grünewald, F, Meinel, C, Totschnig, M & Willems, C 2013, 'Designing MOOCs for the support of multiple learning styles', in Scaling up learning for sustained impact, Springer, pp. 371-82.

 Hrastinski, S 2008, 'Asynchronous and synchronous e-learning', Educause quarterly, vol. 31, no. 4, pp. 51-5.

 —— 2009, 'A theory of online learning as online participation', Computers & Education, vol. 52, no. 1, pp. 78-82.

 Lave, J & Wenger, E 1991, Situated Learning: Legitimate Peripheral Participation, Cambridge University Press.

Hi Tommy,

Also take in account the accessibility features of the online platform, so learners with disabilities can also interact and collaborate.

OK, so its a little dated, but I would recommend looking at Mioduser et al (99) - they created a multiple dimension taxonomy of 'web based learning environments', which is rather obsessively complete and would make a good foundation even today. Their conclusions in 99 that "One step ahead for the technology, two steps back for the pedagogy" seem just as relevant today for most of the e-learning that I see.

Mioduser, D., Nachmias, R., Lahav, O., & Oren, A. (1999). Web-based learning environment (WBLE): Current pedagogical and technological state (Research Report 54). Tel-Aviv: Tel-Aviv University, School of Education.

http://muse.tau.ac.il/publications/wble-54.html

Since you mention communities, I have a virtual community of practice that you might want to have a look at: http://docentesenlinea.fahce.unlp.edu.ar/. You can follow the links to our social networks, in particular, and see how we organize debates and exchange of information. Hope you can read Spanish!

From practical experience, ideas that nobody has mentioned here yet for motivating, supporting collaborative learning and establishing a sense of belonging:

Design tasks that make sense in reality. If what they do in the course is useful in real life, the parameters to consider when they take decisions about their work are much clearer and therefore the results are better. For example, I give a course on academic writing in which the participants write texts that they really need for research or publication.

Open forums to exchange and share information and experiences about the work the students have to do. Forums for doubts in which not only the tutor but also the students can answer if they know the answer.

When creating Study Course for Mechanical Engineers in VE, consulting with the Internet and other sources by the students should be taken into consideration.

There is a way out. When you integrate an exercise into VE, it is possible to let the students see the correct answers (in other cases I close this service). Still, I warn, that the evaluation shall not be taken into account and I don't limit the quantity of attempts. They are given the chance to percieve their real knowlege of the material.This way the students have the opportunity to conceptualize and study. Afterwards, they perform the quizzes. The students' responsibility helps them to perform the test in the classroom.

Hi everyone. you all have said everything to answer Tommy's question. I just have a little addition to it all. I would suggest you go to Google Classroom or  Moodle Open Source Learning platforms. Both are course management systems (CMS). These are free open source software package design to help educators create effective online courses and examinations.

Regards!

Dear Tmmy,

At our Centre for instructional psychology and technology (CIP & T), we started a line of research on collaborative learning and technology. This resulted in a doctoral dissertation:  "In Search for the Conceptual Origin of University Students' Community in a Confluence of On- and Offline Learning Environments" Tapa blanda – 2007 Johanna Poysa (Autor)

She is doing further research on this topic.

Another source of information you can find in the attached publication.

Enjoy!

Good Answer Gayane Sedrakyan