Welcome to this week's event: Using Online Communities to Enhance Learning for Your Organization! I am Janet Salmons, and I will be your host and moderator this week. Each day I will introduce some ideas, and I will check in throughout the day to respond to posts you make to the discussion. I hope you will contribute your experiences, questions and issues so we can have a lively week! If there are particular points you want me to address, feel free to post them as well. Throughout the week I will post additional related materials on my website,
http://www.vision2lead.com. Today I want to introduce some key questions, definitions and ideas that we will build on throughout the week. And I want to hear from you-- what do you need to know to enhance learning opportunities in your organization?
Underlying questions for any discussion about learning include:
* What are the goals and objectives?
* Is there an instructor (teacher, trainer, leader) and if so what is his or her role?
* Who are the participants or learners?
* What approach is best suited to our circumstances (time and resources) and will help us achieve our goals?
Additional questions emerge when we plan for learning online learning:
* Is it open to the public and drop in participation? Or is it restricted to a particular group who understand thereis an expectation for participation or completion of some tasks?
* What are the access and comfort levels of the target group of participants with online communication tools? (Email, web forums or chat, etc.
* Will participants meet face to face-- either as part of training efforts or as colleagues in the same organization?
These are some very big questions! To begin thinking about them, let's use a continuum:
On one end we have the lecture. The instructor presents content to the participants, whose role is largely to receive the information. On the other end we have a learning community. Learning communities are defined as: “communities in which people are joined together by mutual interest to intensively examine a particular theme, are able to learn together and exchange existing knowledge and work on aspects of problem solving together” according to Rita Paloff, author of
Building Learning Communities in Cyberspace. In a learning community, the participants learn from and with each other. An instructor may take the role of facilitator of the discussion, introducing ideas or answering questions as needed.
In between the poles of instructor- driven and participant-driven learning we can have lots of different permutations. For example: a presentation may be given, not as a stand-alone lecture, but to lay the groundwork for participants' work together to apply the information or solve problems. I hope that you will share examples that you have experienced, and let us know why they did or did not work.
What might each of these models look like online? Why would I choose a particular model?
Lecture
Online, a lecture might involve simply posting content onto a website, and inviting participants to read it, or sending a document out for review. A forum or email could be used for questions and answers which in this case are primarily for the purpose of clarification. When might you choose this model? A lecture format might be suitable when there are facts to be conveyed. For example, new policies or regulations have been enacted that your staff and volunteers must follow, or you have new rules for data collection for a program evaluation. This approach could also be used when you want to share some news or current event with staff and volunteers. In any of these examples, the ideas or perspectives of participants about the content can be shared, but regardless of what they think the content is stable. There is little focus on the relationships or community-building between the instructor and participants.
Learning Communities
In a learning community the participants influence or create the content through exchange of their ideas and/or collaborative analysis of the question at hand. Relationship building is usually a priority-- if for no other reason than creating a trustful and respectful environment for dialogue. In some cases, confidentiality or other boundaries must be agreed upon. (We'll look at some sample agreements later this week.)
Online learning communities might be a site where anyone with access or membership can present information or pose a question that others can respond to with answers or suggested resources. An informal learning community might operate without anyone in the role of instructor or this role could be rotated among participants. The instructor may serve as facilitator or moderator and guide the direction of the discussion, answer questions or summarize key points.
This description might fit the TechSoup discussion boards, where anyone registered can pose a question or share information. And like TechSoup, specific topic areas can be established to provide some level of focus. A learning community could also be formed or enhanced via email communication.
Learning community could work for a work group of staff or staff and volunteers who use it to share the problems and successes at delivering whatever program or service the organization offers.
Our event this week and many online classes use a blended approach, a structured learning community. Someone (in this case, me :wink;) is responsible for introducing content and answering questions, and participants are welcome to discuss and to introduce ideas. An article, a PowerPoint slide show or even a multimedia presentation can be used to present food for thought and fodder for discussion. The instructor or trainer may post such an introduction along with open-ended questions to start the discussion. This kind of approach works for one time workshops or training over multiple sessions. This model might also incorporate team projects that are conducted on or offline, then shared back for further discussion with the online group. This week we will look at a variety of collaborative learning activities that can be adapted for your organization.
Summary
We're launching the week with a discussion of "what" and "why" and as the week progresses we will talk about "how." This is because it is the purpose, not the tools, that drive online learning. First we need to know what it is we hope participants to learn and why. Then we can figure out where along the continuum we should aim. While the lecture has its purpose to infom, we will be focusing on the learning community side of the continuum this week.
Questions for you!
* When you reflect on learning experiences you have had online, would you define them as lecture, community, or somewhere in between? Do you think the approach was the right match for the people and the purpose?
* In your organization, do more of your training/educational needs involve factual information that staff/volunteers need to know, or are more of your needs related to exchange of ideas and experiences?
* What do you need to know to make effective learning experiences happen in your organization?
* What do you hope to take away from the event this week?
Palloff, R. M., & Pratt, K. (1999).
Building learning communities in cyberspace. San Francisco: Jossey Bass.