Title: Social relations of cyber-mediated learning platforms: symmetry, relation, and evolution

Authors: Victor Friedlander

Addresses: Kfar Hanassi, Hevel Chorazin, 12305, Israel

Abstract: The article describes the current state of work in progress on a model of the evolution of social relations and systems of relations. The paper discusses the implications of this part of the model for the evolution of the cyber-enhanced learning communities discussed in Ms. Haythornthwaite's (2008) paper. In contrast to the focus of Haythornthwaite's paper on the social network of cyber-mediated learning platforms, this paper is concerned with the quality of social relations and the impact of the growth of importance of expert knowledge on the social organisation of these programmes. Evolution of the quality of social relations of cyber-mediated learning platforms is represented as a function of symmetry breaking and building and their impact on the evolution of the learning community from a state of homophile simplicity to that of heterophile complexity.

Keywords: symmetrical social relations; symmetry breaking; symmetry building; social systems evolution; reciprocity; autonomy; cyber-enhanced learning communities; student autodidacts; nerds; expert circles; community management systems; e-learning; electronic learning; online learning; expert knowledge; online communities; virtual communities; web based communities.

DOI: 10.1504/IJCEELL.2015.066546

International Journal of Continuing Engineering Education and Life-Long Learning, 2015 Vol.25 No.1, pp.39 - 52

Published online: 21 Jan 2015 *

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