Cocode: Co-learner screen sharing for social translucence in online programming courses

Abstract

Online courses are popular among learners of programming, but many learners have trouble completing the courses. A common approach to increase learner engagement is to provide co-learner presence via chat and forums. In this work, we present Cocode, an online learning system where learners can share their presence without any explicit action; their normal learning activities would signal co-learner presence. Cocode is a web application for online programming courses that shows other learners' code editors and running screens in the programming environment to the learners while working on exercises. Results from our between-subject studies show that learners with Cocode are more engaged and work on more programming exercises compared to the learners using the system without social features.