Resource Sharing Week 6 - Building an Online Learning Community

“The development of a learning community in the distance education process involves developing new approaches to education and new skill in its delivery (Palloff & Pratt, 2007, p. 231).  Developing community in distance education keeps a focus on student learning, what is essential for student growth.  Learning together in this capacity creates a new level of excitement in learning and in education reform.  Attending a course anytime from anywhere, student centered instruction, 24 hour a day access, and obtaining knowledge previously not available in textbooks, are some of the reasons why students enjoy online learning (Coleman, 2005).  All of the participants in an online learning environment make up the community of learners.  Grimes- Viort (2010) outlines steps necessary to build a successful, sustainable online community: 

1.      Ask the right questions – Why?  Identify the needs you are trying to fulfill by offering an online space for interaction.  Decide what resources you are going to allocate to support your project

2.      Invite participation – Reach out to potential members

3.      Don’t obsess about the platform – Focus on the purpose of the online community rather than the actual platform being used

4.      Nurture early, release later – Major involvement towards beginning, guiding the group through example

5.      Taking things offline – By putting participants in a room together, you are providing a platform for them to have more meaningful and effective interactions

6.      Big up your members – When one of your community participants achieves, celebrate it

7.      Allow for granulation – At the beginning the community space will address a particular topic or activity.  Let your community naturally split itself up; forced sub-groups are bad, organic ones are good.

8.      Involve your community – Reach out and invite your growing community to take part in the operations to develop loyalty.

9.      Be firm but fair – Set the tone, provide guidelines for behavior

10.  Commercialize carefully – Leverage your growing community

References

Coleman, S. (2005).  Why Do Students Like Online Learning?  Retrieved from http://www.worldwidelearn.com/education-articles/benefits-of-online-learning.htm

Grimes-Viort, B. (2010).  10 Steps to Building Successful Online Communities.  Retrieved from http://blaisegv.com/community-management/10-steps-building-successful-online-social-media-communities/

Palloff, R. & Pratt, K.  (2007). Building Online Learning Communities: Effective Strategies for the Virtual Classroom. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Resource Sharing Week 5 - Synchronous or Asynchronous, Blended or Online

Many considerations are necessary when forming online learning communities.  Will the time needed to work collaboratively in a learning community be a concern for participants?  What is the cost for this type of learning and how will those costs change with an increase in the number of participants?  Will the learning community be solely online or will it be a blended community?  Will asynchronous or synchronous technologies be utilized?  Based on Palloff and Pratt’s experiences with online teaching, an asynchronous environment is preferred.  “The asynchronous environment allows participants to log on to the class or discussion at any time, think about what is being discussed, and post their own responses when they wish” (Palloff & Pratt, 2007, p. 68).  The ability to read, process, and reflect on other participant’s ideas and formulate an original response is essential to the individual’s learning development.  Asynchronous technologies afford the time necessary for this individual growth, but are there disadvantages to these technologies?  “If e-learners seldom meet face-to-face and teachers mainly rely on asynchronous e-learning, students might feel isolated and not part of learning communities, which is essential for collaboration and learning” (Hrastinski, 2008, para. 12).

There are many synchronous and asynchronous technologies and tools that can be utilized in classroom situations as well as learning communities (blended or online).  By accessing Synchronous and Asynchronous Communication Tools, one will learn advantages and disadvantages of both types of technologies as well as examples of each.  This is helpful for classroom collaboration as well as building learning communities because it lists the tools as well as the uses and drawbacks of each tool.  Information of this nature allows for purposeful planning and execution.  There are many articles available within Education Week’s special report on Emerging Policy Debates in Virtual Education.  There are resources connected to factoring online learning into daily work, delivery of information, expansion of online learning, sustainable funding for online learning and the many shapes and sizes of online learning.  

One responsibility of an educator is to help develop and enhance the skills that will make students viable participants in today’s society.  Exposure to both types of technology in K-12 classrooms as well as future courses and learning communities is essential for professional growth and development.

References

Ashley, J. Synchronous and Asynchronous Communication Tools. Retrieved from http://www.asaecenter.org/Resources/articledetail.cfm?ItemNumber=13572

Education Week. (2010, April 28). A Special Report on the Emerging Policy Debates in Virtual Education (supplement). Retrieved from http://www.edweek.org/media/educationweek_e-learning_2010_specialreport.pdf

Hrastinski, S. (2008). Asynchronous and Synchronous E-learning. EDUCAUSE Quarterly, 31(4). Retrieved from http://www.educause.edu/EDUCAUSE%2BQuarterly/EDUCAUSEQuarterlyMagazineVolum/AsynchronousandSynchronousELea/163445

Palloff, R. & Pratt, K.  (2007). Building Online Learning Communities: Effective Strategies for the Virtual Classroom. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.