Online Learning Communities
Online learning communities are where people come together for one purpose-to learn online and through a process-how the course is delivered. These communities significantly impact both students and learning as well as satisfaction within online courses where students share their experiences and constructs their own understanding of any given information. Clark (1998) advices that online learning communities should be grown, not build because they are strongest when grown by members into unique and supportive environment. Students in online learning environment gain knowledge through constructing meaning and challenging one another as they professionally support and give feedback to each other. Further, learning dynamic is created in the communities where the instructor becomes a member of the learning communities despite his/her own roles and responsibilities.
Some essential elements of online community building include the triple "P" that Dr. Palloff has talked about in the video. She stated that it takes people, purpose, and process to build effective online learning community. According to her, the people consists of students from all over the world with potentially different cultural values and varied learning styles. Clark (1998) asserted that learning communities need strong leaders because leaders are needed to define the environment, keep it safe, give its purpose, identity and keep it growing. Therefore, there is the need for instructors to motivate and engage students in the online learning communities. They also need to use research-based strategies to bring online learners together as communities. The second element, which is the purpose of the online learning community building is that people work as a community in the shared learning goals and objectives. This purpose is achieved when learners help one another through sharing ideas and experiences in the form of discussion and mutual encouragements. Then a social present is developed in the learning communities that facilitate communication amongst learners through texts, email, blogs, discussion, and so forth.The third essential element of online communities building mentioned in the video was the process. According to Dr. Palloff, process is the way the course is delivered. There are other administrative issues that are essential in the online community building. These include how to engage students; institutional guidelines and policies; the way classes are constructed, and the way online content is being delivered.
Online learning communities can be sustained by carefully designing the learning environment from the constructivist perspective. Instructional designers can ensure that the structure of a course supports the health of the online community (Palloff & Pratt, 2011). Additionally, they must include the necessary structure that will encourage students to collaborate by creating appropriate rules of conduct and learning activities, including well-designed questions that encourage interactive creativity on the part of the learners. On the other hand, instructors should rigorously engage learners in meaningful learning as well as emmpowering them to be responsible for their own learning using collaborative activities. I learned in this week's video that the first two weeks into a new course is very crutial in building and sustaining an online learning communities. At this stage, facilitators are continuously measuring levels of students' participation and are able to recognize when a student suddenly withdraws. This situation possibly signals a need for the facilitator to slow down and fill in gaps in the individual student’s conceptual background. If necessary, phone call or email should be sent to the individual to show concern. They can also strengthen the learning community as needed by scheduling live chat or conference calls over telephone using Skype. Additionally, an online orientation model could be done where students will be allowed to express their past experiences as well as given them tutorial that will familiarize them with the Course Management System (CMS). Further, facilitators should make comments that guide discussions and model profitable online behavior. Such comments should focus not only on the immediate learning objectives, but should also encourage students to consider how they will use what they are learning in the future (Palloff & Pratt, 2011).
The relationship between community building and effective online instruction is that community building is the primary means of providing effective and meaningful learning environment to the learners. When students interact in groups, it builds connections between course content and their prior knowledge. While videos, books, articles, and graphics can as well present information, building and maintaining a learning community is more important to online learners than any other activity a facilitator undertakes (Palloff & Pratt, 2011). Engaging, involving, and encouraging learner-learner interaction is crucial in online learning environment. Instructors are not suppose to leave the students without regularly interacting with them and perhaps go on vacation. This behavior hurts the building of the community although the online instruction has been set up. Personally, I see a strong community building in Mark's announcement of his get away during the week 6 of this course. Mark has demonstrated that instructors cannot leave for vacation, leaving students on their own even though the instruction is online. Despite the time frame of his vacation, yet he has already assigned another facilitator who would take over when he is gone. This makes students feel safe and when students feel safe and confident in an online learning environment, their satisfaction is increased because of their feel of belongingness in the community.
I would like to conclude my online learning communities assignment with Caleb John Clark's quote that "A good environment, good leaders, with a healthy dose of personal narrative tilled into the cybersoil, helps grow strong online learning communities where real learning and thinking can bloom".
References
Dr. Rena Palloff and Dr. Keith Pratt define “Online Learning Communities” and highlight the benefits of creating a learning community for facilitators of online learning experiences.
http://www.noendpress.com/caleb/olc/3Principles_Online_Comm.pdf
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ReplyDeleteHi Stella,
ReplyDeleteI like this statement you wrote about learning communities “Clark (1998) online learning communities should be grown, not build because they are strongest when grown by members into unique and supportive environment”. Palloff & Pratt (2011), talked about how crucial the first two weeks of the course is for the learners. They asserted that the facilitator will either regain or lose their students within this time frame. Because of this growing concern, they stated that it is essential that the instructors be online through-out the day to address any concerns the learners may have. Additionally they spoke about creating an activity as an icebreaker to help students feel more comfortable and get to know their cohorts. When I heard this statement, I immediately thought about Mark and the activity he was doing with us at the very beginning of the course. He is the first instructor that has created such an engaging activity that will help students engage in community building since I have been taken online courses.
Reference
Palloff, R. & Pratt, K. (2011). Online learning communities: [Motion Picture].
Hi DaStella!
ReplyDeleteIndeed, “online learning communities can be sustained by carefully designing the learning environment from the constructivist perspective”. Online learning communities significantly impact both student learning and satisfaction within online course through the social interaction in their social presence. Participation, both social and academic, is integral. Without active participation in discussions and other class activities, the learner is not part of the community and does not even exist. The process encourages learner-to-learner engagement where social constructivism allows participants to depends on one another to make meaning. Learners connect to one another to co-create knowledge, a process that transform them to scholars and be reflective on their learning (Palloff & Pratt, 2011). Learners feel the social pressure to succeed, as they feel a part of something larger-an extension of themselves.
Oliveira, Tinoca, and Pereira (2011) indicated that students who viewed their collaboration as more aligned with collaborative knowledge building were more likely to employ a deep approach to learning. Students’ views of collaboration exerted a direct effect on online participation in Knowledge Forum and mediated the effects of deep approaches on forum participation. Hrastinski (2009) argues that online participation is important for understanding online learning, and expresses concerns about measuring online participation by merely counting the number of messages posted on discussion boards. So Conrad and Donaldson (2004) advised that online learning communities should interact in engaged environment where constructivist principles mingle with problem-based learning, for effective and successful learning.
References
Conrad, R., & Donaldson, J. A. (2004). Engaging the online learner: Activities and resources for creative instruction. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Oliveira, I., Tinoca, L., & Pereira, A. (2011). Online group work patterns: How to promote a successful collaboration, Computers & Education, 57, 1348-1375
Palloff, R. & Pratt, K. (2011). “Online Learning Communities”. Retrieved from http://sylvan.live.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=5364570&Survey=1&47=6623504&ClientNodeID=984650&coursenav=1&bhcp=1.
Stella:
ReplyDeleteThe online learning community will provide the class with various opportunities to connect – for instance, there is the instructor to student relationship, the student to instructor relationship and the student to student relationship. According to Palloff and Pratt (1999), these human needs pay an integral role in the way the online community is formed.
The instructor can facilitate an online community by posting the syllabus online so that the students may be aware of their obligations to the course; they can also develop guideline for group discussions with will encourage frequent and multiple postings (Palloff and Pratt, 1999). Other suggestions by Palloff and Pratt (1999), include facilitating the course information and evaluation of the course material.
Palloff and Pratt (2005) noted that a sense of community must exist before collaboration can occur in the online learning community.
This will form the basis for collaboration with other class members and encourage learners to work together to complete class activities. Also, in establishing the sense of community, students should be encouraged to meet on their own by telephone, text, email, social networks etc.
When students are geographically separated as in the case with the online environment, connections are critical in developing an online community environment that engage students in both critical thinking and interactive dialog.
References
Palloff, R. M., & Pratt, K. (1999). Building Learning Communities in Cyberspace. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass
Palloff, R.M., & Pratt, K. (2005). Collaborating online: Learning together in community. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Stella:
ReplyDeleteDo you think it is it possible to create a true “social” environment in an online classroom? Do you think online learners are able to construct meaning in the same ways as if they would in a face-to-face classroom, in which they interact freely and directly with peers and an instructor?
I think it is possible to attempt to create a true social environment in an online classroom simply based on the methods of instruction, the teaching aids and resources, the assignment and projects and the discussion and chats facilities which are provide. However, I think the problem lies in getting most (if not each and every one) of your students to participate freely enough to ensure that a social environment is indeed created.
I believe in order to create social interaction to the level of creating communities online, we will have to create the above teaching strategies, not for individuals but for interchangeable groups.
I do believe that according to the social constructivist theory learning can be achieved through collaboration between groups of learners. ‘Social constructivist approaches can include reciprocal teaching, peer collaboration, cognitive apprenticeships, problem-based instruction, webquests, anchored instruction and other methods that involve learning with others (Shunk, 2000).’
Wang et al. (2001) concluded that when a group of students work together in a collaborative learning environment, new knowledge is constructed through the social and intellectual interaction between the peers and experts. Teachers should try to meet the needs of their students by encompassing much different intelligence as possible in their lesson plans. Different types of technology applications and activities can be planned to help meet students varying needs and to enhance individual strengths and weaknesses.
References
Kim, B. (2001). Social constructivism. In M. Orey (Ed.), Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/index.php?title=Social_Constructivism
Omrod, J. (1999). Human learning (3rd Ed.) Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Schunk, D. (2000). Learning theories: An educational perspective (3rd Ed) Upper Saddle river, NJ: Prentice-Hall.