Learning in the Wild: Coding Reddit for Learning and Practice

This paper introduces a ‘learning in the wild’ coding schema, an approach developed to support learning analytics researchers interested in understanding the different types of discourse, exploratory talk, and conversational dialogue happening on social media. The research examines how learner-participants (‘Redditors’) are leveraging subreddit communities to facilitate self-directed informal learning practices on the social networking site. The coding schema is tested and applied across four ‘Ask’ subreddit communities (‘AskHistorians’, ‘Ask_Politics’, ‘askscience’, ‘AskAcademia’). The research brings attention to how knowledge, ideas, and resources are being shared and supported outside the confines of traditional education and professional environments.