Investigating the Role of Digital Learning in Enhancing Educational Values: Online Socialization and Its Effect on Peer Learning, Collaborative Skills and Knowledge Construction

Abstract

This study aimed to examine the advantages of online socializing and digital learning for the growth of interpersonal, peer learning and collaborative skills. The impact of these three skills on knowledge construction was evaluated. The Salmon five step e-moderation model has been used to explore the many phases of learning in a digital environment. This study examined the first stage of the e-moderation model, which is the respondents' internet accessibility, and the stage of knowledge construction in digital learning. The respondents of this study were 402 undergraduate students from four universities who have completed four semesters of online study. A stratified cluster sampling technique was employed in choosing the samples for this study. The instrument for data collection from the respondents was a 40-item questionnaire. Google Forms was utilized as the medium for data gathering. The main findings show that online learning involves a lot of interpersonal, peer learning, and collaborative activities, which are correlated to knowledge construction. The three abilities of peer learning, collaborative skills, and knowledge construction, as indicators of educational values, are positively correlated. The results suggest that a carefully designed online learning session that promotes group activities can deliver beneficial educational values. The common online socializing and information-sharing activities seen on social network sites (SNS), such as Facebook, Telegram, Twitter, etc., have strong educational components that should be included in digital learning, which is the future of education.