Exploration of the interaction of cloud based and collaborative e-books in open and distance learning

The purpose of this action research was to explore the interaction dimension of cloud-based and collaborative e-books in open and distance learning environments. For the purpose of the study the Activetextbook platform, which provides discussion and collaborative work directly on e-book, was used. The platform was translated into Turkish and integrated into the learning management system. For the implementation phase, the book of Basic Information Technologies II was used. The participants in this study were 78 volunteered students enrolled in Anadolu University Open Education System in the 2017-2018 Spring semester. A delegation of 4 experts, specialized in the field of open and distance learning, has been established for action research plan and its validity and reliability process. The researcher took the role of a practitioner within the scope of the action research. The comments obtained at the end of the process were first examined through thematic content analysis within the scope of the main objectives of the research, and then descriptive content analysis was applied within the framework of interaction types and community of inquiry. Interviews were conducted with 16 learners, who made at least one comment during the application process, and the instructor. The interviews were examined through content analysis. The results showed that interaction can be achieved with the scaffolding provided after the second cycle in the application process. In the third cycle, it was observed that the interaction continued to increase with the inclusion of the researcher in the implementation process. It was also observed that the scaffolding provided during the application process with the technology seminars and orientation studies given before the research was effective on the sense of community and social presence of the learners. In addition, the analysis of the learners' comments and interviews showed that instructional and social presence had a positive effect on cognitive presence. Besides, the cloud-based e-book environment had the potential to transform learner-content interaction into social interaction. The research findings also specifically showed that the discussion environment on the book was effective and efficient in open and distance learning environments. Based on the experience and opinions gained during the research process, some features that can be developed in a cloud-based e-book environment are given. Suggestions for researchers, teachers, and institutions are also presented. At the end of the research, the action research plan developed within the scope of the action research was presented to the researchers and teachers.