Clark contends that “leaders are needed to define the environment, keep it safe, give it purpose, identity and keep it growing”. He gives a set of mantras for teacher/leaders in any online community:
- all you need is love
- control the environment, not the group
- lead by example
- let lurkers lurk
- short leading questions get conversations going
- be personally congratulatory and inquisitive
- route information in all directions
- care about the people in the community; this cannot be faked
- understand consensus and how to build it, and sense when it's been built and just not recognised, and when you have to make a decision despite all the talking.
He cites confirmation that “personal narrative is vital to online learning communities. Personal stories and experiences add closeness, and provide identity, thus strengthening online communities.”
- William Klemm has a more pragmatic approach[9, 10] to student participation, one that tends to coerce the engagement of post-secondary students in online collaborative learning. A minimum level of online participation as well as a deliverable piece of work relevant to the community activity is a mandatory course requirement. Many universities adopt a similar approach in order to ensure minimum online engagement of each student in collaborative study.
her guidelines[14] for growing communities within a class of students:
- communicate frequently with the class
- make as much interaction public as possible
- create a space for non-classroom-related interaction
- understand the limitations and strengths of the technology you're using in terms of fostering interaction
- ask questions often, and interact with students in the forum you have devised for class interaction.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
dailyPosts 05/13/2008
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