Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Given the right circumstances, any community can act as a learning community,
typically when it engages in the acquisition, transformation or creation of
knowledge. But most learning communities do not focus exclusively on learning.
For example, a human resources division of a company may try to develop sense
of community but may be most interested in knowledge management (Schwen,
Kalman, Hara, & Kisling, 1998). Similarly, a community of practice in a corporate
setting may devote much of its energy to identifying tacit knowledge and
making the tacit knowledge explicit for the good of the company (Wenger, 1998).
By contrast, online community networks may devote their resources to
connecting people in new ways, sharing information, and building interpersonal
relationships (Cohill, 1997), but attend to learning only peripherally.
Regardless of their focus, little is actually known about how people participating
in virtual environments are influenced by those environments. We might easily
suppose that people who are connected electronically are enriching their
interpersonal network of relationships, whereas some emerging research
suggests that electronic saturation may actually contribute to a sense of isolation
among participants (Kraut, Paterson, Lundmark, Kiesler, Mukophadhyay, &
Scherlia, 1998). Social critics of technology voice concerns that the values and
strengths of communities are undermined by the very technology that promotes
new ways of interacting with others (Ehrenfeld, 1996; Selznik, 1996). With equal
force, critics of distance learning warn that technology-based courses often
emphasize transmission of information and isolate learners by placing
technological barriers between learners and real people (Farrow, 1999; Kessell,
1999).
1
The use of interpersonal communication as a synonym for “face to face” communication is taking license
with conventional language used in communication theory. In communication theory, interpersonal
communication could include any communication between people that doesn’t pass through a gatekeeper
and that allows for immediate feedback. Interpersonal communication can embrace a number of types of
communication other than “face to face” but it is used here for convenience, and recognizing that “face to
face” communication is always interpersonal.
2
Unidimensional in typical cases, but more than one medium or sensory input may be used simultaneously
in some cases to create a multi-dimensional message.
Fostering communication in a virtual learning community is not merely a matter
of making virtual communication as good as face to face communication (see
Table 2). Interpersonal communication is not adequate for some things, despite
its reputation as an ideal form of communication. For example, in settings that
are highly charged emotionally, the barrier of a virtual medium can serve as a
protective screen for those trying to communicate. Consider court cases that
include the testimony of children. Often, such testimony is provided on
videotape rather than in person to protect the child. Similarly, a student might
want to challenge a teacher's judgment from the relatively safe position behind
the keyboard of a computer. In both of these examples, interpersonal
communication is perceived as threatening, and virtual communication provides
a more comfortable context.
Table 2. Summary of positive and negative features of interpersonal and virtual communication
Similar pros and cons existed for earlier communication technologies in precisely
the same way as they do for computer technologies. Telephones made it possible
for people to communicate over vast distances very easily, but telephony
requires one to enter into a contract with a telephone company, pay charges for
calls, learn how to use the machinery, and most importantly, learn how to
overcome its limitations and communicate effectively with someone else. Lest
this seems like a trivial comparison because of its familiarity, the point is easily
made if one convenes a telephone conference call with several people who have
never used teleconferencing technology. It is challenging to use technology to
convene a conference, but dealing with the people at the other end of the phone
is even more challenging. Participants have to learn new conventions for setting
agendas, being courteous, taking turns, and for making points forcefully but not
intrusively. Teleconferencing technology offers opportunities and liberation from
the tyranny of travel, and at the same time, it imposes significant barriers.
The place need not be terrestrial, however, and in virtual communities, places are
by definition not physical. People from several countries can gather in one
virtual place on the Internet, for example, as easily as people can gather for a
meeting in a school building. Nevertheless, the location can be as real as the
imagination and technology allow. The Internet houses thousands of virtual
store fronts, for example, each of which exists metaphorically as a place.
These five types of communities are not mutually exclusive. Often, any particular
virtual learning community will exhibit features of several of these types. The
types overlap and may shift in importance within a single virtual community
based on the interests of community members. For example, creators of the
Buddhism community website may have chosen to emphasize ceremony in the
community, but it will also have elements of intent, relationship and reflection.
Various members of the Buddhism community will determine which categories
will be prominent, and the emphasis will be different for each member.
Historicity. Communities are stronger when they share history and culture.
Conversely, they are weak when they are based on general interests and abstract
ideas. The quality of participation depends on individual and shared
commitment or relevance of the substance of the community. Commitment
depends on shared values in the community. At minimum, the strength of the
commitment need only be sufficient to maintain participation in the group, but
stronger commitment generally leads to the development of stronger
communities.
Integration. All of the above elements depend on supportive norms, beliefs and
practices.
This list of elements begs the question of whether all of them are necessary for a
community to exist, particularly a virtual learning community. Is it necessary,
for example, for a virtual learning community to exhibit plurality? Depending
on their focus and membership, it might be argued that some virtual learning
communities can flourish in isolation. In fact, one measure of community
strength might be the degree to which members create a cloister, a safe haven
separated from the plurality of associations we expect to find in terrestrial
communities. At least, the peripheral associations of community members might
have little relevance to the success or strength of the virtual learning community
in these instances. At the same time, these elements inform our understanding of
how communities work, and depending on the nature and intent of a particular
virtual learning community, they may apply. The interaction and importance of
various elements may be different for different virtual learning communities, but
they are still useful for helping us understand how communities can be grown
and maintained.
It is probably apparent that these ten elements are not realized by chance.
Communities do not just happen; but neither are they created. What we are
attempting to do as educators is promote the development of virtual learning
communities by nurturing the conditions under which they can arise. We can
wheedle, cajole, beg whine and nag learners to become involved, but ultimately
it is the learners who will determine whether a virtual learning community
springs from the ooze. Still, there is much that can be done to support these
elements. An important principle to growing a virtual learning community is to
be deliberate, to think about and do things purposefully to foster community
growth. A sampling of ideas is presented in Table 3.
Table 3. Representative implications of elements for virtual learning communities (from Schwier,
in press)..
Historicity Incorporate what members have done in the past, and make their stories
part of the community culture. Explicit mention of the culture, value and
context of the virtual community. Make public the history of the
community.
Mutuality Include group exercises, assignments, activities that require each member
to contribute to the final product. Ask leading questions that encourage
members of the community to invest in concerns held by other members,
and to share ideas and possible solutions.
Autonomy Foster individual expression and comment explicitly on its value. Set up
protocol for respectful communication and reach consensus in the group.
Create strategies for settling disputes or inappropriate behavior.
Participation Allow members of the group to shape learning agendas. Give guidance to
new community members, and promote opportunities for established
members to go outside the boundaries of the learning event or focus.
Encourage lurkers and voyeurs.
Integration Articulate a set of belief statements, and identify group norms as they
emerge and evolve. Adopt and firmly adhere to a learner-centered
philosophy, and employ pedagogy that celebrates individuals while
building a group identity.
Future Identify direction of learning. Ask participants to describe ways they will
use what they have learned in the community in the future. Conduct
"visioning" exercises to determine new initiatives to be undertaken by the
community.
• How do people select virtual learning communities and how do they make
use of them for learning?
References
Bellah, R.N. (1985). Habits of the heart: Individualism and commitment in
American life. New York: Harper Collins.
Brook, J., & Boal, I.A. (1995). Resisting the virtual life: The culture and politics
of information. San Francisco: City Lights Books.
Farrow, C.S. (1999). The electronic buffalo: A web tale. On Campus News,
University of Saskatchewan, January 9, p.5.
Horn, S. Cyberville: Clicks, culture, and the creation of an online town. New
York: Warner Books.
Misanchuk, M., Anderson, T., Craner, J., Eddy, P., & Smith, C.L. (2000,
October). Strategies for creating and supporting a community of learners. Paper
presented at the Annual Convention of the Association for Educational
Communications and Technology, Denver, Colorado.