Online Learning Communities

 This week we were asked to reflect on our learning about online learning communities.  The following questions seek to discover the benefits of online learning communities, and how students perceive that community.

How do online learning communities significantly impact both student learning and satisfaction within online courses?

“Learning communities create a dynamic where facilitators and learners are equal participants” (Laureate Education, n.d.).  Learners in an online environment have the unique situation in that the learners are able to direct their own learning.  They are given the task of challenging each other, being able to draw things out of each other and professionally give each other feedback.  The goal is co-created knowledge and meaning.   A students’ perception of learning becomes deeper from these experiences, and they are happier with their results.

What are the essential elements of online community building?

There are three main elements that form an online community.

People-have to interact with others, social presence.

Purpose-how the people are brought together, in this case an online class.  This element comes with guidelines and policies to help the class develop.  Not only are there classroom guidelines, but there are also state and federal guidelines that must be followed in an online class.

Process-how the course is delivered.  Set up process for a learner-to-learner environment.  They need to engage with each other to make meaning. 

Not one of these can be dealt with in isolation.  They all interact with each other.

How can online learning communities be sustained?

Some strategies for sustaining online communities include holding a new student orientation.  This gets the student to know the CMS, what online learning involves, and who the members of their program will be.  Make the classroom feel warm and inviting rather than cold and formal. A learner-to-learner environment helps students become more confident in taking charge of their own learning, where by they start to become practitioner-scholars.  They will take that experience with them to the next class, and their sense of presence starts to grow. 

What is the relationship between community building and effective online instruction?

“What a faculty member does makes a difference in what students do” (Boettcher & Conrad, 2010).  When a student feels that they are part of the learning community, they become more actively involved in their learning.  It is up to the faculty member to connect with their students right at the beginning of class and it is even suggested by Drs. Palloff & Pratt to visit the class multiple times per day during the first two weeks of the course.  The instructor is responsible for setting up and maintaining a safe and welcoming environment for students to engage in meaningful learning experiences. The instructor needs to be and equal level in the class, and they need to be present throughout the entire course.

What did you learn that would help you become a more effective instructor in the future?

Community is very important in online instruction.  There may be people in a class that are isolated, not just in the fact that they are alone in a room taking your course, but also geographical location.  By establishing a learning community, students feel more impelled to log on and engage their fellow classmates in their learning.  People will become a more active learner when they feel that they can be comfortable being who they are on-line, and know that others will challenge them in the course, and that they can draw from others expertise to increase their knowledge of the subject matter. 

Drs. Palloff & Pratt also make some suggestions to set up your online community to help students feel more comfortable in your course.

Make the course easy to navigate
Make the classroom feel warm and inviting rather than cold and formal
Visit the classroom multiple times per day during the first two weeks
Welcome students to post a bio
Respond individually to their bio
Relate to something personally

Post an icebreaker for students to get to know one another on a different level (Laureate Education, n.d.)

Following these strategies will help me to be able to engage my students in the course and make them more comfortable in my learning environment.

Chris

References

Conrad, R., & Donaldson, J. A. (2011). Engaging the online learner: Activities and resources for creative instruction (Updated ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass

Palloff, R. & Pratt, K. (n.d.). [Video] “Online Learning Communities.”  Laureate Education. Retrieved from: http://sylvan.live.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=6493411&Survey=1&47=7369045&ClientNodeID=984650&coursenav=1&bhcp=1