The essential elements of online community building are people,
purpose and process, according to Palloff and Pratt. Without people there is no
need for community. People must be engaged. Being engaged with one another to
make meaning transforms learners. The outcome is a sense of co-created
knowledge and meaning. Purpose sets the tone for the course. You must have
guidelines for sharing information and interacting. The instructor must set
clear goals for the course. The goals provide the learner with the direction
they are headed and what they will accomplish by participating. In an online
course, the process refers to the weekly activities, discussions, and content
learners interact with in order to achieve the goals set for the course.
Online learning communities impact the learner’s learning and
satisfaction by being engaged with one another. Shea,
Sau Li, & Pickett (2006) highlight the critical role that community plays
in academic success and persistence in higher education. Yuen (2003) asserts
that a learning community can help individual learners “achieve what they
cannot on their own”. It is
everyone’s responsibility to create a successful online learning community.
However, it is the learner’s responsibility to be a professional participant.
For the first two weeks an instructor will either lose the student or hook the
student for the duration of the course. In order to retain students, new
student orientation must take place. This process will allow students to get to
know one another, it will introduce students to the course management system
and it will orient students to the online environment.
Furthermore, online learning communities can be sustained if the
website is easy to navigate, students are made to feel welcome, and if the
instructor visits the website multiple times during the first two weeks. The
instructor also needs to welcome the students to post their bio and relate to
students personally. Students need to know the instructor is human and cares.
Additionally, Dr. Palloff defines online learning community as the
ability to pull students together to support one another, to explore, and to
construct meaning and knowledge together. In order for online instruction to be
effective, there must be a sense of community that embraces both the learner
and facilitator.
References
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2012). Online learning communities.
Baltimore, MD: Author. (approximate length: 44 minutes)
Shea,
P., Sau Li, C., & Pickett, A. (2006). A study of teaching presence and
student sense of learning community in fully online and web-enhanced college
courses. Internet & Higher Education, 9 (3), 175-190.
Yuen, A.H.
(2003). Fostering learning communities in classrooms: A survey
research of Hong Kong schools. Education Media International, 40, 153-162.
