The Evolving Patterns of Collective Attention among Lurkers in a cMOOC

Abstract

Lurkers, learners with low engagement, constitute a significant portion of online learning environments. Understanding the learning patterns of lurkers is crucial for the advancement of online education. While existing research has extensively explored the phenomenon and causes of lurking behavior, few studies have deeply analyzed the specific learning processes of lurkers. This study investigates the collective attention flow evolution of two types of lurkers – “experienced lurkers” and “inexperienced lurkers” – within a connectivist massive open online course. Our findings reveal that both groups exhibit similar logarithmic growth curves in their collective attention flow, indicating a participation pattern characterized by a rapid initial increase, followed by a deceleration, and eventual stabilization. Furthermore, the collective attention flow network of inexperienced lurkers demonstrates a centralized structure, suggesting that a subset of resources dominates their attention allocation.