Best Practices for Online Learning Communities

CSHEMA fosters the development of online learning communities for its

members through our Communities of Practice. While each community is
different, there are sets of best practices that apply to all online learning
communities. We have divided these practices into the following
groupings: guidelines, participation, collaboration, transformation, access,
and evaluation.
Guidelines
Group norms are agreed upon and practiced. These foster open,
respectful communication without fear of attack.
o There are many ways your community can go about
establishing group norms. Following are some websites that
may be of benefit to you as explore this important part of
community-building:
o http://humanresources.about.com/od/teambuilding/qt/nor
ms_sample.htm
o http://humanresources.about.com/od/teambuilding/ht/grou
p_norms.htm
o http://thefuturebuzz.com/2009/07/16/rules-govern-groupsonline/
Follow proper netiquette.
Participation
Like F2F environments, community is built through frequent
interaction. This includes group activities, active discussion forums,
one-to-one check-ins, open discussion forums, etc.
Occasional synchronous activities deepen the community, including
chat sessions, video conferences, webinars, etc.

 Members establish an online social presence.

Participation is encouraged, but voluntary.
Collaboration
Shared leadership Leadership comes from within the group.
Everyone has a voice and everyone is responsible for holding the
group accountable to its norms.
Shared vision Members create their mission statement together and
all work to support the good of the community over ones own
individual ambition.
Team atmosphere members help one another grow in comfort with
the technology through voluntary mentorship.
Shared planning all members are welcome to participate in the
planning process.
Shared decision making every member takes responsibility for and
contributes to decision-making. This works best in a consensus model
of decision-making.
Transformation
Permission to grow Communities are fluid and given the space to
recreate themselves as needed. Creativity is encouraged, and
members feel free to brainstorm without fear of having their ideas
shot down.
Members welcome feedback and consistently strive to improve.
Members share information and learning experiences that may help
others.
Having a diverse community presents the challenges of working with
different cultures, languages, styles, needs, and norms, but it also
presents the opportunity for transformative learning among the
members in a community.

Access
A reliable structure and interface allow members to know what to
expect and, therefore, feel more comfortable.
An intuitive interface encourages timid members.
Provide multiple ways to access information and to share
information.
Provide an orientation to the technology.
Address technology bugs quickly.
Evaluation
Shared evaluation members are all responsible for assessing the
community and making the community accountable to its norms.
Members trust that they can give and receive feedback constructively
without fear of reprisal.
Members reflect on their community experience: what is working,
and how it can be improved.
Palloff and Pratt (2007) provide a list of characteristics for people who
succeed in distance education systems. Many of these apply to online
communities, including:
Open-minded about sharing life, work, and educational

experiences
Able to communicate through writing
Self-motivated and self-disciplined
Willing to speak up if problems arise
Have access to a computer and modem
Able to think ideas through before responding
Feel that high-quality learning can take place [outside of face-to-face
interactions]
References

Earnest, S.E. & Treff, M.E. (2012). Plan, practice, participate: Strategies and
skills for enhanced teamwork. Retrieved from
http://www.lulu.com/shop/stephen-earnest-phd-and-marjorietreff-edd/plan-practice-participate-strategies-skills-for-enhancedteamwork/paperback/product-20104951.html
Hill, J.R. & Raven, A. (2000). Online learning communities: If you build them,
will they stay? ITFORUM Paper #46. Retrieved from
http://itforum.coe.uga.edu/paper46/paper46.htm
Palloff, R. M. & Pratt, K. (2007). Building online learning communities: Effective
strategies for the virtual classroom. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Public Schools of North Carolina (n.d.). Professional learning communities.
Professional Development. Retrieved from
http://www.dpi.state.nc.us/profdev/resources/proflearn/
Swan, K (2002). Building learning communities in online courses: The
importance of interaction. Education, Communication & Information,
2(1), 23-49. doi: 10.1080/1463631022000005016