Online Learning Communties

Setting the foundation for the online learning community is critical.  Meeting the needs of the learner should be the forefront goal of the course. 

The essential elements of building and online community can be accomplished in four stages.  Each stage of a course is different and depends on how the four elements of the learner, faulty-mentor, content, and environment interact and flow(Boettcher & Conrad, 2010)

1.      Course Beginnings-Starting off on the right foot – launch the course well, laying the groundwork for a learning community in which learners and faculty support each other to accomplishment of course goals

2.     Early Middle- Keeping the ball rolling – The primary goal is for the learner to become deeply engaged with the content, laying the basis for more complex learning and course project in the latter half of the course, and development of the learning community.

3.     Late Middle – Letting go of the power – the learner  begins to focus on particular case studies, scenarios, and other discipline of course issues.

4.     Closing Weeks – Pruning, Reflecting, and Wrapping Up – The primary goal is for the learner to complete a positive learning experience and identify the knowledge and skills they have developed form the course experiences while supporting the community goals to accomplish tier own personalize, customized learning tasks.

Laying the foundation is the key to building effective online communities.  If you thing about the coordination and foundation it takes to build a neighborhood from scratch and the infrastructure to consider it takes that much detail and consideration to build and online community. A student’s learning process is enhanced through careful activity preparation on the part of the instructor or course designer.  The goal is to create activates that twill engage and challenge learners while expanding their personal connections to their existing knowledge(Conrad & Donaldson, 2011)

Resources

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

Conrad, R., & Donaldson, J. A. (2011). Engaging the online learner: Activities and resources for creative instruction (Updated ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.