Guidelines to Foster Interaction in Online Communities

The Information Society

The aim of this Paper is to explore the key concepts in the conceptual landscape of Online Learning Communities. At ULTRALAB, a research and development unit of Anglia Polytechnic University, we have a wide experience in this field, having been involved in it for over 15 years. Our major recent projects have included: Talking Heads, an online community for 12,000+ head teachers; Virtual Heads, an online community programme for professional development - mandatory for aspiring head teachers; Strategic Leadership in ICT (SLICT), an online community development programme for head teachers; ULTRALAB Learning, a professional development online community for 100+ educationalists; Ultraversity, an online community of 400+ undergraduate work place degree learners and ULTRALAB itself, a working environment for 80+ colleagues, three-quarters of whom are remotely located. I will combine our findings from these research projects with a look at the broad literature in this area, identifying the Key Concepts in so doing. Finally I will look at the inter-relationship between these concepts and note the emerging themes.

Proceedings of the10th European Conference on e-Learning, 2011

"This paper attempts to provide a deeply understand of how a community are developed in an online learning context. This research was developed as a part of a broader research purpose that aims to deeper understand how does trust relate to the activity patterns of the online learning contexts. Results gather there from supported a survey design on relate trust with online activity patterns as well supported the development and implementation of an ontology that aims to facilitate a systematic recording of online learning community manifestations as an effort to understand their life cycle. The relevance of this paper is grounded in the changes that are taking place in today learning and teaching contexts. Among other relevant aspects a key features of this conceptualization – on “what are online learning communities” – is to provide a broader perspective and understand on possible potential effects that those changes can have in our daily relationships, in the way we seek and acquire information, or even in the way we teach and learn"

2021

Learning and Teaching in …, 2008

Educational Media International, 2004

In this paper we discuss findings from evaluations we conducted and share lessons we learned as developers of online education during the last 10 years. The purpose is to analyse some of the complexities in the design of online communities for professional development and continuing education. We present STAR-Online (Supporting Teachers with Anywhere/ Anytime Resources), an online community designed and implemented as a model for continuing education and professional development for teachers. This online staff development provides teachers the training, support and communication links necessary for their continued success in the classroom. Teachers can access mentors, colleagues and resources via a web-based Virtual Teaching and Learning Community (VTLC) system. A brief history of the project is presented along with a vision for the future. Practical components of the project and guidelines for those interested in establishing similar initiatives are discussed in detail. Finally, some characteristics of successful online communities and suggestions for practitioners are addressed as they derived from our experiences and evaluation work. Concept d'assistance d'éducation en ligne: Questions critiques Dans cet exposé, nous nous référons aux conclusions d'évaluation que nous avons gérées et aux lessons communes que nous avons apprises en tant que développeurs de l'éducation en ligne pendant les dix dernières années. Le but est d'analyser quelques complexités dans les concepts d'assistance en ligne pour le développement professionnel et l'éducation continue. Nous présentons STAR-Online (Supporting Teachers with Anywhere/Anytime Resources), une assistance conçue et réalisée comme modèle d'éducation continue et de développement professionnel pour les professeurs. Ce développement personnel en ligne fournit la formation, le support et les liens de communication nécessaires pour le succès continu des professeurs en classe. Les professeurs ont accès aux mentors, collègues et ressources par un système virtuel d'assistance pour enseignement et formation basé sur le Web (VTLC). L'histoire de ce projet est présentée avec une vision pour le future. Les composants pratiques de ce projet et les directives pour ceux qui sont intéressés à établir des initiatives semblables sont discutés en détail. Finalement, quelques caractéristiques prospères d'assistance en ligne et des suggestions pour praticiens sont abordée, étant donné qu'elles dérivent de notre expérience et de notre travail d'évaluation. Der Entwurf von Online-Lern-Gemeinschaften: Kritische Bereiche In diesem Papier erörtern wir Ergebnisse unserer Untersuchungen und teilen Erkenntnisse mit, die wir als Entwickler von Online-Bildung während der letzten 10 Jahre selbst lernten. Der Zweck ist, einige der Komplexitäten beim Entwurf von Online-Communities für professionelle Entwicklung und Weiterbildung zu analysieren. Wir zeigen STAR-Online (der Lehrer wird mit "Anywhere/Anytime Ressourcen unterstützt), eine als ein Modell für Weiterbildung und berufliche Fortbildung von Lehrern gedachte und durchgeführte Online-Community. Diese Online-Stabsentwicklung versorgt Lehrer mit Training und Unterstützung und stellt die Kommunikationsverbindungen zur Verfügung, die für die Fortführung ihrer erfolgreichen Arbeit im Klassenzimmer notwendig sind. Lehrer können auf Mentoren, Kollegen und auf Ressourcen über ein netzbasiertes virtuelles Lehr-und Lerngemeinschafts-(VTLC) System zurückgreifen. Einer kurzen Geschichte des Projekts folgt eine Vision der Zukunft. Praktische Bestandteile des Projekts und Richtlinien für jene, die daran interessiert sind, ähnliche Initiativen einzuführen, werden im Detail erörtert. Zuletzt werden einige Merkmale erfolgreicher Online-Communities aufgeführt, sowie Vorschläge für Praktiker, die auf unseren Erfahrungen und unseren Ergebnissen aufbauen wollen.

2005

An intimate community of learners: Strange as it may sound, one instructor after another notes the surprisingly close relationships that they have developed with their online students. They say that it is common for participants in online courses to develop a strong sense of community that enhances the learning process.”

International Journal of Educational Leadership Preparation, 2008

Online learning communities provide opportunities for connections in several ways: instructor to students, students to instructor, and students to students. As online instructors and researchers, we describe the essential elements for developing online learning communities and the strategies we've used for creating these type of learning environments in our online courses. note: This module has been peer-reviewed, accepted, and sanctioned by the National Council of Professors of Educational Administration (NCPEA) as a scholarly contribution to the knowledge base in educational administration. In addition to publication in the Connexions Content Commons, this module is published in the International Journal of Educational Leadership Preparation in Volume 3, Number 3.

Handbook of Open, Distance and Digital Education, 2023

The International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 2002

With advancements in Internet technologies, the methodologies associated with imparting education have changed significantly. The book under review, therefore, addresses issues specific to building effective online electronic learning communities. Organised in two parts, the book's first section examines the concept of learning communities in cyberspace, whereas the second part focuses on concrete aspects of building an electronic learning community.