I Felt like a Contributing Member of the Class: Increasing Class Participation with Classcommons

Abstract

In this paper we describe the design and first deployment experiences of a platform-independent, interactive video commenting system, ClassCommons, using a large public display in two sections of a large-enrollment university class. Our preliminary evaluation suggests that students enjoyed the activity of commenting, that they participated a great deal, and that their sense of community was greater after using the system. Further analysis revealed that reading the comments and posting relevant comments are associated with increases in community members' sense of community. We discuss lessons learned and describe further work we are planning using this and similar interactive activities.