On Online Communities

These are only a few things about online learning communities.  In this article, I have a few questions on this topic.  I am anxious to share with my readers.

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

This would be the responsibility of everyone involved with the course.  One of the key things that students do is, they engage among themselves.  This could create a sense of meaning and accomplishment, which is the goal of learning communities (Online Learning Communities, 2011).  When this occurs, students feeling of satisfaction, have a perception of learning.  They feel as if a part of something larger (a process, perhaps).

What are the essential elements of online community building?

What the facilitator will need to know is about is about the technical aspects of online classrooms, and know how to use the tools.  Students will need to know where they may navigate how to use the needed tools.  Such tools may be blogs,  how to add emoticons, how to use social tools such as Facebook ™ or WhatsApp ™—one of the best around—no need to log in or provide password, since authorization is on the phone whose name is in the contact list of a smartphone.  A little at time is enough so that no student becomes overwhelmed about the course (Online Learning Communities, 2011).  The facilitator will want to post a bio/background—a little about him- or herself.  Create an icebreaker activity—nothing to do with the course content.

Above all, the facilitator and students will need to know they will need to be present.  The main idea of the facilitator presence is to be a “guide on the side.”  The facilitator should no longer feel the need to lecture; instead, facilitate activities that foster involvement, participation, and learning.  Give students something they can take with them so that they can see how they may apply what they learn in their lives.  The instructor facilitates to contain what goes on in a course (Online Learning Communities, 2011).

How can online learning communities be sustained?

In Online Learning Communities (2011), Dr. Pratt commented that within the first 2 weeks of a course, students need answers to many questions.  Students will want to feel welcome and know the goal for the course, so that they know the purpose(s) and have a sense of direction of where they are and where they may head.

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

It is important to know that one need not learn everything in a course; it is important to know the core concepts (Boettcher & Conrad, 2010, p.26).  Students need to interact online with instructors, their peers in class, with the instructions on computers, communication devices.  From learning this, I also see that it is a variability of methods of communal interaction.  This interaction can also be interactivity.

What I learned that would make me a more effective instructor in the future is that this interaction has one buzzword we might all know: Engagement.  I will want to be as creative as I can with keeping students connected with core ideas, through a variety of ways activities that involve student interaction and learning.

References

Boettcher, J. C., & Conrad, R. (2010). The online teaching survival guide: Simple and practical pedagogical tips. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Online Learning Communities [Video webcast]. (2011). [With Dr. Rena Palloff and Dr. Keith Pratt]. Laureate Education. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu/webapps/portal/