Healthy online communites are established with guidelines and expectations. (course work)

A recent submission to my elearning course.
Defining participant guidelines and expectations from the beginning of a course helps to establish several things within an online course community. “Building Communities–Strategies for Collaborative Learning,” By Soren Kaplan (August 2002)[i], states these guides:

  • Establish operating norms explaining “…guidelines for online and offline etiquette and obtain agreement on the behaviour that will lead to successful group and individual learning outcomes.”
  • Foster trust. “Establishing and aligning learners’ expectations around shared objectives, including how individual contributions tie in to the broader success of the group, helps create an open and sharing environment.” Allowing members of the community to establish these norms, objectives and goals strengthen the buy in of learners and increase trust in one another.
  • Create a buddy system. “Keeping learners engaged in an online environment can be challenging.” Groups help create collaborative efforst amongst the members to contribute to not only their learning, but that of the entire group.

“Communities are about people and their interactions with each other. Thus communication is the heart of online communities” (Bowes, 2002, pg. 1).[ii]

Learning is becoming more about learning from one another rather than just and instructor or textbook. The Australian Flexible Learning Framework Quick Guide[iii] series points out that this has been driven by:

  • The recognition of the importance of social interaction within the learning process.
  • An increasing emphasis on a constructivist model of education, rather than the transmission of knowledge.
  • Recognition that in the online world, information is pervasive and readily accessible, but that making sense of it is the real challenge.

From this discussion clearly “a Learning Community is a group of individuals engaged intentionally and collectively in the transaction, or transformation of knowledge” (Kowch & Schwier 1007 quoted in Grozdanic & Weatherely 2001)[iv] and that by defining the guidelines and expectations will allow all members to fully contribute and utilize the community to its fullest.

[i] Soren Kaplan, Building Communities—Strategies for Collaborative Learning, Learning Circuits. http://www.learningcircuits.org/2002/aug2002/kaplan.html, August 2002.
[ii] Bowes, J 2002, Building Online Communities for Professional Networks, Global Summit Conference, Adelaide. http://www.educationau.edu.au/globalsummit/papers/jbowes.htm
[iii] Backroad Connections Pty Ltd 2003, What are the conditions for and characteristics of effective online learning communities? (Version 1.00), Australian Flexible Learning Framework Quick Guides series, Australian National Training Authority. July 29, 2003.
[iv] Grozdanic, R & Weatherley, R 2001, Designing for a Viable Online Professional Development Community, NET*Working 2001. http://flexiblelearning.net.au/nw2001/01_attending/program/tuesday.htm

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