Digital engagement workshop for community councils: Glasgow 2016 report.

This report covers a workshop on digital engagement for Community Councils supported by the School of Computing's public engagement fund. It was held in Glasgow on 22 March 2016. The workshop combined presentations by subject experts with attendee-led round-table discussions. It was well received and felt by delegates to be of immediate benefit. There is clear demand for follow-up events, potentially more focussed on training.

Reconceptualising moderation in asynchronous online discussions using grounded theory.

This paper reports a grounded theory study of e-moderation of asynchronous online discussions, to explore the processes by which tutors in higher education decide when and how to e-moderate. It aims to construct a theory of e-moderation based on some key factors which appear to influence e-moderation. It discusses previous research on the definition and practice of e-moderation, and then describes the study, which involved four e-moderators working in two different university contexts. Key themes on e-moderation, which emerged using a grounded theory approach, are discussed. It proposes a paradigm framework for e-moderation and suggests that as a facilitative activity, it should be sufficiently contained within ‘a ring-fenced learning arena’. Factors outwith and inside the ring-fence which appear to influence e-moderation and their implications for future theory development and validation are discussed. Keywords: e-moderation; grounded theory; online learning; asynchronous discussions; ring-fence