Exploring informal caregivers' well-being during COVID-19 through online discussion forums.

BACKGROUND: COVID-19 has increased pressures on caregivers, disruptions to health services and increased health concerns during COVID-19. Reports have been made on informal carers' increased workload and limited support services during the pandemic. AIMS: This study aimed to explore how informal caregivers experienced their well-being during COVID-19 through online discussion forums. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A reflexive thematic analysis characterised by theoretical flexibility, organic inductive coding processes and theme development was conducted on online discussion forums. The method highlighted theme reviewing which was done twice to encourage data reflection. The project was conducted on a novel topic which was a new area of research interest. Semantic coding where participants' words were used directly in the interpretation and construction of themes was used. RESULTS: In the theme 'Locked in or locked away' caregivers worried about continuing care at home, due to limited freedom and worries of hiring help during a pandemic. Some expressed worries about visitation rights and grief of not being present with a loved one if they would reside in a care home. The theme 'Nothing left to give' suggested that COVID-19 exasperated caregivers' loneliness, social isolation and increased responsibilities and challenges with other roles. Bitterness, resentment and anger were felt towards lack of social support and workload. Theme 'Celebrating a virtual way of life' described how caregivers used online forums when other support services were disrupted. DISCUSSION: We discuss the role of informal caregiver that was described as all-encompassing during COVID-19. We highlight the importance of advanced planning for care home transitions and the use of online forums as a form of support. We suggest further exploration into informal caregivers' role balancing. CONCLUSION: COVID-19 seemed to affect informal caregivers negatively, but they reframed their situations and sought online support. With COVID-19-related restrictions and increased workload, COVID-19 added an all-or-nothing aspect to care home transition decisions.

A regional virtual case discussion forum in pediatric oncology: Experience of the Pediatric Oncology East and Mediterranean Group.

BACKGROUND: The Pediatric Oncology East and Mediterranean (POEM) group that aims to share expertise among pediatric oncology providers across the Middle East, North Africa, and East Asia region initiated a virtual Case Discussion Forum (CDF) in 2013. METHODS: Meeting records from September 2013 till June 2021 were reviewed. Detailed minutes were available starting August 2016; case data were analyzed including diagnoses, purpose of presentation and recommendations. A 38-item survey assessing perception of benefits, challenges, and opportunities of the forum was distributed to members of the POEM group and results analyzed. RESULTS: A total of 140 cases were presented from 14 countries. After August 2016, 67 cases were presented, and those were analyzed regarding reasons for discussion, barriers, and recommendations. Details are presented in this report, and the most common challenges identified were related to histopathologic/molecular diagnosis (24%), imaging interpretation (18%), resource limitations (12%), and surgical difficulties (9%). A survey was distributed to all POEM members in 28 countries, and 76 responded. The main benefit reported was the provision of recommendations regarding treatment and evaluation, while the main challenges reported were time zone difference and workload. Recognized opportunities included conducting regionally relevant research studies based on clinical problems identified during discussions, and setting guidelines for resource-adapted treatment regimens. CONCLUSIONS: The POEM CDF identified areas for multi-institutional regional studies and led to a twinning project between two centers in the region for improving diagnostic infrastructure. Such forums can identify specific resource limitations in pediatric cancer and direct efforts for targeted capacity building.

Desarrollo de la capacidad argumentativa de estudiantes de Odontología en el uso de un foro educativo virtual / Development of the argumentative capacity of dental students using a virtual educational forum / Desenvolvimento da capacidade argumentativa de estudantes de medicina dentária na utilização de um fórum educativo virtual

RESUMEN Se aplicó un foro de discusión virtual como recurso didáctico para el desarrollo de la capacidad argumentativa en estudiantes de Odontología del curso de Oclusión. El foro se aplicó en reemplazo de las evaluaciones semanales que tenían como finalidad evaluar si los estudiantes conocían los conceptos impartidos en cada clase magistral. Participaron 48 estudiantes y se analizaron las variables foro de discusión virtual y la capacidad argumentativa. Se obtuvo como resultado que el foro virtual utilizado como recurso didáctico influyó en la capacidad argumentativa de los estudiantes. Este hallazgo está en concordancia con diversos estudios realizados tanto en educación básica como en educación universitaria. Se concluye que el foro de discusión aplicado contribuye al desarrollo de capacidades cognitivas, específicamente las relacionadas con la argumentación.

ABSTRACT A virtual discussion forum was used as a didactic resource for developing argumentative skills in dental students in the occlusion course. The forum was applied as a replacement for the weekly evaluations intended to assess whether the students knew the concepts taught in each master class. Forty-eight students participated, and the variables of the virtual discussion forum and argumentative capacity were analyzed. The result was that the virtual forum used as a didactic resource influenced the argumentative capacity of the students. This finding agrees with several studies carried out in basic education as well as in university education. It is concluded that the discussion forum applied contributes to the development of cognitive abilities, specifically those related to argumentation.

RESUMO Um fórum de discussão virtual foi utilizado como recurso didático para o desenvolvimento de habilidades argumentativas nos alunos de odontologia do curso de oclusão. O fórum foi aplicado em substituição às avaliações semanais que tinham como objetivo avaliar se os alunos conheciam os conceitos leccionados em cada aula magna. Participaram 48 alunos e foram analisadas as variáveis fórum de discussão virtual e capacidade de argumentação. O resultado foi que o fórum virtual utilizado como recurso didático influenciou a capacidade de argumentação dos alunos. Esse achado está de acordo com diversos estudos realizados tanto na educação básica quanto no ensino universitário. Conclui-se que o fórum de discussão aplicado contribui para o desenvolvimento de habilidades cognitivas, especificamente as relacionadas à argumentação.

Speech acts and the communicative functions of emojis in LIHKG online discussion forum amid COVID-19.

Since the beginning of 2022, the Hong Kong government has imposed strict social distancing measures and changed its stance on various regional policies with the aim to contain the so-called 'fifth wave' of COVID-19. In these pandemic and 'infodemic' times filled with uncertainty and fear, Hong Kong netizens used local online discussion forums as a resource to establish an innovative form of 'helping network.' This study is based on 230 posts from a popular local online discussion forum 'LIHKG' in February 2022 when the pandemic was regarded as most critical by the Department of Health. Speech Acts theoretic approach was adopted to explore how forum users employed speech acts to perform various communicative practices such as expressing concerns, asking for information, and engaging with others in a CMC environment amid a global health crisis. Representatives were found to be the most dominant text-based speech acts, followed by directives, expressives and commissives. Speech acts provide forum users a context in which emoji usage occurs. Forum users not only make use of words to 'do' things in the online self-help forum, but they also employ emojis to either supplement or complement speech acts. This study also shows that emojis perform multiple functions in the discussion posts and argues that they do not merely function as emotion indicators of their textual company, but also carry significant pragmatic meanings by illustrating how they can also carry illocutionary force and in some cases, even alter the illocutionary force of their preceding texts. The findings of this study enhance our understanding of how forum users communicate via verbal and nonverbal means within the underexplored 'helping domain' of online discussion forums. It also suggests that online discussion forum interactions need to be approached differently than other better understood alternatives.

Participation style and social anxiety as predictors of active participation in asynchronous discussion forums and academic achievement.

Learners in asynchronous discussion forums are inundated with diverse options when it comes to interaction. This enables the embodiment of various styles of participation. On the other hand, the affective domain tends to be overlooked in the online discussion context. The modeling of discussion activities based on both cognitive and affective indicators constitutes this study's unique aspect. In the study, the impact of social anxiety and participation styles on active participation in discussions were investigated using three-factor social anxiety and four-factor participation style models. In addition, the impact of active participation on academic achievement was also examined. Path analysis was used to explain the predictive correlation among these indicators. Students' participation behaviors in discussions during a three-week implementation were analyzed within the scope of a course taught during the COVID-19 pandemic period. The findings showed that social anxiety and participation styles had a significant impact on active participation, which, in turn, significantly affected academic achievement. The study provides crucial inputs in portraying the characteristics of learners in such a way as to tailor online discussions to their needs.

"COVID-19 spreads round the planet, and so do paranoid thoughts". A qualitative investigation into personal experiences of psychosis during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic is likely to affect people who have had previous experiences of psychosis - either positively or negatively. A research gap exists in looking at qualitative experiences of the pandemic. In the present study, we address the research gap in those who self-identified as having psychosis via Reddit discussion forum posts, collecting data from a popular online community. Sixty-five posts were analysed using inductive thematic analysis. Five overarching themes were identifie; declining mental health, changed psychosis experiences, personal coping experiences, social connectedness and disconnectedness, and COVID-19 as a metaphor. The data show that there are varied experiences associated with the pandemic. People who have experiences of psychosis do not only have vulnerabilities but may also perceive themselves as having strengths that allow them to cope better.

Use of Online Health Forums by People Living With Breast Cancer During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Thematic Analysis.

BACKGROUND: At the time of the UK COVID-19 lockdowns, online health forums (OHFs) were one of the relatively few remaining accessible sources of peer support for people living with breast cancer. Cancer services were heavily affected by the pandemic in many ways, including the closure of many of the customary support services. Previous studies indicate that loneliness, anxiety, distress, and depression caused by COVID-19 were common among people living with breast cancer, and this suggests that the role of OHFs in providing users with support, information, and empathy could have been of increased importance at that time. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to examine how people living with breast cancer shared information, experiences, and emotions in an OHF during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: This qualitative study thematically analyzed posts from the discussion forums of an OHF provided by the UK charity, Breast Cancer Now. We selected 1053 posts from the time of 2 UK lockdowns: March 16, 2020, to June 15, 2020 (lockdown 1), and January 6, 2021, to March 8, 2021 (lockdown 3), for analysis, from 2 of the forum's boards (for recently diagnosed people and for those undergoing chemotherapy). We analyzed the data using the original 6 steps for thematic analysis by Braun and Clarke but by following a codebook approach. Descriptive statistics for posts were also derived. RESULTS: We found that COVID-19 amplified the forum's value to its users. As patients with cancer, participants were in a situation that was "bad enough already," and the COVID-19 pandemic heightened this difficult situation. The forum's value, which was already high for the information and peer support it provided, increased because COVID-19 caused some special information needs that forum users were uniquely well placed to fulfill as people experiencing the combined effects of having breast cancer during the pandemic. The forum also met the emotional needs generated by the COVID-19 pandemic and was valued as a place where loneliness during the pandemic may be relieved and users' spirits lifted in a variety of ways specific to this period. We found some differences in use between the 2 periods and the 2 boards-most noticeable was the great fear and anxiety expressed at the beginning of lockdown 1. Both the beginning and end of lockdown periods were particularly difficult for participants, with the ends seen as potentially increasing isolation. CONCLUSIONS: The forums were an important source of support and information to their users, with their value increasing during the lockdowns for a variety of reasons. Our findings will be helpful to organizations offering OHFs and to health care workers advising people living with breast cancer about sources of support.

Network analysis of gratitude messages in the learning community.

In pedagogical practice, gratitude is recognised not as an emotion, but as an approach to learning. This study introduced gratitude messages into the academic online communication of university students and specifically examined the community in which students shared their messages with gratitude. This study examined the tendency of message connections and how gratitude messages prompted replies. To elucidate their connections, exponential random graph models (ERGMs) were used. A post-event questionnaire to evaluate gratitude experiences was also administered. Results revealed that 77.3% of the 172 connected messages from 123 students involved gratitude. When the post-event questionnaire results were examined using an ERGM, the score effects on increasing message connections were found not to be significant. The most prominent indication was a higher level of significant propensities to make mutual connections. The homophily of the message content was found to have a significant propensity to increase connections. The ERGM results and a review of messages revealed that students expressed gratitude for being both benefactors and beneficiaries of gratitude messages, which confirmed their prosocial behaviour.

Comparison of the effectiveness of the electronic portfolio and online discussion forum methods in teaching professional belonging and ethical behaviors to nursing students: a randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Nursing is a profession that has had many ethical aspects and understanding professional belonging and ethics as a deep and complex process is one of the basic concepts in this field. This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of training professional belonging and ethical behaviors in two methods: electronic portfolio and online discussion forum in nursing students. METHODS: This study is a single-blinded randomized-controlled trial (RCT) with two parallel intervention groups and a third control group. The sample size was 90 selected by block randomization method. The educational contents of professional belonging and ethical behaviors were presented to the participants in two ways: electronic portfolio and online discussion forum. Demographic information form, professional belonging questionnaire, and ethical behaviors questionnaire were applied to collect data. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 24 software. Respectively mean, standard deviation and repeated measured, analysis of variance tests was used in descriptive and analytic statistic. (P value < 0.05). RESULTS: Comparison of the mean score of professional belonging and ethical behavior in the three stages of pretest, immediately after the test and four weeks after the test in all three groups was significant (P < 0.001). The control group had a higher mean score of professional belonging immediately after the test (108.18 ± 48.9) compared to the other two groups. Also, the online discussion forum group had a higher mean score on ethical behavior in four weeks after the test (104.2 ± 0.8) compared to the other two groups. CONCLUSION: Training based on two methods of the electronic portfolio and online discussion forum increases and enhances the level of ethical behaviors in students. Therefore, the implementation of such methods of training can be useful in improving, promoting, and learning ethical behaviors in nursing students. On the other hand, training based on the two methods had a negative impact on professional belonging. Therefore, it is suggested that future studies be conducted with a greater focus on areas of professional belonging. TRIAL REGISTRATION: This research has been registered in Iranian Clinical Trial Registration Center (IRCT) with registration number "IRCT20180612040063N1" and registration date "16/07/2018".

Are online discussion forums useful platforms for paediatric surgeons to seek advice regarding patient management? A review of the queries posted on the world federation of association of pediatric surgeons facebook group (The Pediatric Surgeon's Lounge).

Background: Social media platforms are popular places for discussing difficult cases amongst the surgeons. Paediatric Surgeon's Lounge (PSL) is a closed Facebook group for the interaction of paediatric surgeons from different parts of the world. We aim to assess the safety and utility of the responses given by the members of the PSL group to the queries about the management of paediatric surgical cases. Methods: All posts on PSL between January and July 2021 were retrospectively screened to select the patient management-related queries. For each included query, all the responses were scrutinised for their utility and safety. The utility was categorised as helpful or not helpful, and the safety of these responses was categorised as safe or unsafe. A note was also made whether any unsafe response was rectified in the subsequent responses or not. The proportion of each response category was calculated. Results: Twenty-two queries with a total of 353 responses were assessed. The median (range) number of responses per query was 10 (2-45). The proportion of helpful, safe and rectified unsafe responses was 91.5% (307/353), 96.8% (342/353) and 36% (4/11), respectively. Conclusions: PSL is a safe and helpful platform for taking advice regarding the management of paediatric surgical cases.

Online student culture as site for negotiating assessment in medical education.

Classic studies of medical education have examined how professional socialization reproduces the prevailing professional culture, as well as how students actively negotiate their place in educational processes. However, sociological research has not re-examined student culture in light of structural transformations in medical education, such as the introduction of new assessment types and their use as modes of commensuration. In this paper, we examine data from two studies of online forums where medical trainees and applicants to medical school discuss their experiences preparing for tests of professional skills, including judgment, empathy, and communication. Examining how medical students talk about these tests on such forums allows us to understand the meaning-making processes at work as students negotiate the commensuration processes such tests enable. We examine how these negotiations take place in online forums, where participants confront common challenges, form common perspectives, and share common solutions, all hallmarks of student culture. Through qualitative analysis, we find that online communities are spaces where students grapple with these new forms of commensuration, interrogate the standards and quantifications that underlie them, and collectively negotiate how to approach these assessments. Using the case of online forum communities, our findings advance past work on student culture in medical sociology by theorizing student culture as an extra-organizational phenomenon that spans multiple career stages. In so doing, we highlight the importance of online forum data for studying social processes.

Virtual Intervention for Caregivers of Persons With Lewy Body Dementia: Pilot Quasi-Experimental Single-Arm Study.

BACKGROUND: Compared to other types of dementia, family caregivers of people with Lewy body dementia (LBD) report higher stress levels and more severe depressive symptoms. Although several digital support interventions for caregivers of persons with dementia exist, few target LBD specifically or leverage a fully remote and asynchronous approach suitable for pandemic circumstances. OBJECTIVE: We performed a pilot evaluation of a digital intervention designed to help caregivers of people with LBD address challenges they have experienced, with the end goal of reducing psychological distress in this population. METHODS: We recruited 15 family caregivers of people with LBD to participate in the quasi-experimental, single-arm, mixed methods study titled Virtual Online Communities for Aging Life Experience-Lewy Body Dementia (VOCALE-LBD). The study offers an 8-week web-based intervention that uses a digital discussion platform and involves moderation, peer-to-peer support, didactic training, and problem-solving skill enactment. RESULTS: Participants' baseline characteristics were the following: mean age 66 (SD 8) years; 14 of 15 (93%) of them were female; all (15/15, 100%) were White; and 8 (53%) of them had at least a postgraduate degree. Throughout the intervention, participants engaged in weekly web-based discussions, generating a total of 434 posts (average 4 posts per week). Attrition was 20% (3/15). Upon study exit, participants showed the following average improvements: 3.0 (SD 6.0) in depression, 8.3 (SD 16.7) in burden, 2.9 (SD 6.8) in stress, and 0.3 (SD 0.8) in loneliness. When looking at the proportion of participants with clinically significant improvement versus those with a worsening of ≥0.5 SD for each outcome, we observed net improvements of 50% (6/12), 33% (4/12), 25% (3/12), and 25% (3/12) in depression, loneliness, burden, and stress, respectively. In terms of the benefits of participation, participants reported that participation helped them "a great deal" to (1) improve their understanding of LBD (9/12, 75%), (2) gain confidence in dealing with difficult behaviors of the care recipient (6/12, 50%), and (3) improve in one's abilities to provide care to the care recipient (4/12, 33%). CONCLUSIONS: The study generated promising feasibility and preliminary efficacy data for a low-cost, web-based intervention designed for caregivers of persons with LBD. Though the study was not powered for significance, we observed nominal average and net improvements in important psychological outcomes. Moreover, many caregivers reported that study participation helped them better understand the disease, feel more confident in dealing with difficult behaviors of the care recipient, and improve their ability to care for the care recipient. If validated in future studies, the intervention could be an accessible, on-demand resource for caregivers, enabling them to engage in moderated remote discussions with peers at their own convenience in terms of location, time of the day, and frequency.

Including a discussion forum in a web-based intervention on fertility and sexuality following cancer - Usage and content.

Aim: The aim of the study was to investigate how young adult survivors of childhood cancer used an online discussion forum as part of a web-based psycho-educational intervention. Specifically, we aimed to characterize users of the discussion forum, investigate how they used the discussion forum (type of usage) and content of the posted messages. Methods: This study is a part of a randomized controlled trial, Fex-Can Childhood RCT. Participants with self-reported sexual dysfunction or fertility-related distress were drawn from a population-based national cohort. Sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of the intervention group (n = 322) and data on usage of the discussion forum were analysed with descriptive statistics and compared between subgroups. Messages posted in the online discussion forum were analysed with qualitative thematic analysis. Results: Approximately half (48 %) of participants in the intervention group accessed the discussion forum and most of them (76 %) without writing own posts. Users of the discussion forum did not statistically differ in sociodemographic or clinical characteristics from the rest of the intervention group. The 97 written posts, written by 38 individuals, were mainly descriptions of own experiences and thoughts and concerned three themes: A changed body, Concerns around family building and Longing for support. Peer-support and interaction between participants were seen in some forum threads and the 'like'-function was frequently used, demonstrating engagement and activity. Participants expressed that they felt affinity with and appreciated sharing own experiences and to recognize themselves in others' stories. Conclusions: A discussion forum as part of a web-based intervention appears to be a valuable component by giving participants an opportunity to share intimate experiences and concerns related to surviving cancer. Trial registration: ISRCTN Registry, trial number: 33081791 (registered on November 27, 2019).

Enhancing Learner Participation in Online Discussion Forums in Massive Open Online Courses: The Role of Mandatory Participation.

Online discussion forums are an essential and standard setup in online courses to facilitate interactions among learners. However, learners' inadequate participation in online discussion forums is a long-standing challenge, which necessitates instructor intervention and the design consideration of online learning platforms. This research proposes and studies the role of mandatory participation, i.e., learners' participation in online course forums by instructors' requirements, in fostering their voluntary participation and boosting their learning performance. This novel effect link between mandatory participation and voluntary participation has not been assessed in previous research. An empirical study is conducted using a large-scale dataset of 27,767 learners from a leading massive open online course (MOOC) platform in China. The findings indicate that besides its direct effect on learning performance, learners' mandatory participation has a significant positive effect on their voluntary participation in online course forums, enhancing learning performance. Moreover, the effect of mandatory participation on voluntary participation varies across learner groups, being more prominent for early registrants than late registrants and part-time learners than full-time learners. This research contributes to the online learning literature by introducing mandatory participation as a viable approach to foster voluntary participation and boost learning performance through enhanced voluntary participation. It provides evidence on the effectiveness of the novel design feature of MOOC platforms that enables and facilitates the mandatory participation mechanism in online learning.

Affective Mobile Language Tutoring System for Supporting Language Learning.

Students often face difficulties and experience negative emotions toward second language learning. The affective tutoring system (ATS) is a next-generation learning approach that can detect the affective status of learning to increase performance. Therefore, for the purposes of this study, an innovative affective mobile language tutoring system (AMLTS) was designed to support Japanese language learning. The effects of AMLTS, along with asynchronous discussion, that were intended to improve performance, were examined using a triangulation method. To investigate the effect on emotion, the proposed AMLTS provides a virtual emotion agent that can interact with users and record emotional events, learning assessments, and the results of the interaction into a database. Learning effectiveness evaluations were conducted via two experiments: prototype evaluation and final evaluation. Sixty-three students, all beginners, were invited to use the AMLTS to learn Japanese. The research results show that the proposed AMLTS affective interaction design significantly improves learner engagement and performance. In the emotion feedback analysis and learning process, AMLTS helped students deepen their understanding of the content, enabled them to clearly understand the content, and to engage in peer interaction and experience positive emotions. In the evaluation of system usability, AMLTS reveals good usability for foreign language acquisition.

Looking at MOOC discussion data to uncover the relationship between discussion pacings, learners' cognitive presence and learning achievements.

The MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) forum carries rich discussion data that contains multi-level cognition-related behavior patterns, which brings the potential for an in-depth investigation into the development trend of the group and individual cognitive presence in discourse interaction. This paper describes a study conducted in the context of an introductory astronomy course on the Chinese MOOCs platform, examining the relationship between discussion pacings (i.e., instructor-paced or learner-paced discussion), cognitive presence, and learning achievements. Using content analysis, lag sequential analysis, logistic regression, and grouped regression approaches, the study analysed the online discussion data collected from the Astronomy Talk course involving 2603 participants who contributed 24,018 posts. The findings of the study demonstrated the significant cognitive sequential patterns, and revealed the significant differences in the distribution of cognitive presence with different discussion pacings and learning achievement groups, respectively. Moreover, we found that the high-achieving learners were mostly in the exploration, integration, and resolution phase, and learner-paced discussion had a greater moderating effect on the relationship between cognitive presence and learning achievements. Based on the findings and discussion, suggestions for improving the learners' cognitive presence and learning achievements in the MOOC environment are discussed.

Revealing latent traits in the social behavior of distance learning students.

This paper proposes a multilayered methodology for analyzing distance learning students' data to gain insight into the learning progress of the student subjects both in an individual basis and as members of a learning community during the course taking process. The communication aspect is of high importance in educational research. Additionally, it is difficult to assess as it involves multiple relationships and different levels of interaction. Social network analysis (SNA) allows the visualization of this complexity and provides quantified measures for evaluation. Thus, initially, SNA techniques were applied to create one-mode, undirected networks and capture important metrics originating from students' interactions in the fora of the courses offered in the context of distance learning programs. Principal component analysis and clustering were used next to reveal latent students' traits and common patterns in their social interactions with other students and their learning behavior. We selected two different courses to test this methodology and to highlight convergent and divergent features between them. Three major factors that explain over 70% of the variance were identified and four groups of students were found, characterized by common elements in students' learning profile. The results highlight the importance of academic performance, social behavior and online participation as the main criteria for clustering that could be helpful for tutors in distance learning to closely monitor the learning process and promptly interevent when needed.

Experiencing the community of inquiry framework using asynchronous online role-playing in computer-aided instruction class.

This current study investigates the use of online role-playing, in an online discussion forum, in learning the community of inquiry framework - an area of learning covered in the Computer-Aided Instruction (CAI) course, an elective course for Computer Science undergraduate students at Universitas Indonesia. The participants were divided into different roles. Each group was triggered to discuss the implementation of online collaborative learning. A mixed-methods approach was utilised to analyse the qualitative and quantitative data. The result of content analysis exhibited students implementing all the components of the CoI framework. Teaching presence was the rarest, as students were focused on delivering their ideas. Social presence appeared in almost all messages since it is the easiest, and students can feel the impact immediately. The discussion moved to the integration phase but did not proceed to resolution. This study suggested some recommendations and future research topics.

LovesCompany: evaluating the safety and feasibility of a mental health-focused online community for adolescents.

Background: Adolescents are at risk for mental health (MH) disorders but are unlikely to seek services and may be reluctant to talk about their MH. An anonymous, online MH-focused community could help reduce suffering. However, online forums can also promote negative behaviours such as cyberbullying. This study aimed to evaluate the safety and feasibility of an online community - LovesCompany - to improve MH outcomes for adolescents.Methods: American adolescents (14-17 years) were recruited through social media. Eligible participants were randomised to LovesCompany or a placebo MH resource site. Outcomes were assessed every other week for six months, and at twelve months. Multilevel models assessed group differences in depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation. A subgroup of participants participated in qualitative interviews.Results: Participants (N = 202) were mostly female (70%), White non-Hispanic (69%), and cisgender (80%). There were no instances of inappropriate behaviour such as bullying or posting explicit content. Symptoms for both groups improved over time. Participants appreciated hearing others' experiences and valued the opportunity to offer support.Conclusion: Although adolescents are often resistant to MH treatment, they appear to be interested in anonymous, online, MH-focused conversation, and can benefit from giving and seeking support. Finding a balance between an appealing user experience, ethical considerations, and resource needs is challenging.